Road Trip: Two Families and a Studebaker

I'm having a hard time deciding whether this series of photos depicts two families on a vacation trip, or moving in search of a better situation. They have an awful lot of stuff loaded on to their Studebaker, which appears to be a 1918 model.

So how are the families related? Two sisters? Two brothers (assuming the photographer is the other husband)?
Think about it: eight people (four of them restless children) crammed in that automobile!

That looks like a mattress tied on to the side of the car with all the other luggage, as they complete a river crossing on
board a cable ferry, or punt. A horse and buggy wait behind them.

It's too bad that the license plate is obscured by the bumper...it would have been interesting to be able to see the
state and possibly year on it.