Grandson takes 92-year-old on adventure-filled road trip to every U.S. national park
Brad Ryan and grandmother Joy Ryan are on a mission. The 41-year-old and 92-year-old plan on visiting all 63 U.S. national parks together.
And they have almost reached their goal.
The intergenerational journey started in October 2015 when the pair from Duncan Fall, Ohio embarked on an adventure to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
“I felt bad that she was always living vicariously through my stories,” Brad told “GMA.” “And so just knowing that she had never seen deserts and mountains and the ocean and these incredible wild places on Earth, it just felt like a responsibility that I had to her to make sure that she had some memories to take away in her life story as well.”
Prior to their travels, Joy never saw the ocean, a mountain, or the flow of a large river.
Brian and Joy weren’t on good terms before their pact.
They hadn’t spoken for 10 years before they reconnected at his sister’s wedding where Brad found his grandmother to be “very close to death.”
“You can’t just pick up after ten years like nothing happened. So instead, you have to make a choice, and my choice was to just create something more beautiful,” Brad told FOX Weather.
Brad thought the trip would be a massive challenge, considering his grandmother’s advanced age, but that wasn’t the case.
The duo had the time of their life.
“I’ve always tried to be positive in my life and it didn’t hurt to try something once,” Grandma Joy said. “I didn’t want to have to regret the next day that you didn’t do it.”
Grandma’s flown in small aircraft, gone ziplining, and white water rafting. Brad grew a following on social media after he started documenting their travels.
Brad and Joy had 29 parks under their belt before COVID hit.
“All we could do was hope that things would change and that those opportunities would still be there and then be grateful for everything that we had been able to do and see up until that point,” Brad said.
They picked up their itinerary and ventured to Alaska to visit eight of their National Parks in July 2021.
They hiked near glaciers, got close to wild animals, and made new friends.
“I always wanted to see the bears get the fish and I finally got to see it. And it was fun, it really was,” Grandma Joy said.
Brad and Joy are in the final stretch of meeting their goal with a trip to their last park, the National Park of American Samoa.
They have a GoFundMe set up to help fund their trip.
So far they’ve only reached $3,365 of their $7,500 goal.
“Grandma Joy, and her grandson Brad, are an inspiration to us all. National parks are best enjoyed with the people we love,” National Parks Services Chief of Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said.
The pair said their last trip will be bittersweet but are looking forward to it.
“It’s been a grand adventure, it really has,” said Grandma Joy. “It’s really been a beautiful, beautiful time. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“We realize that not everybody is going to be able to travel to every U.S. National Park,” Brad said. “But there is some adventure to be found in every corner of of the country and we hope that people will go out and seek that adventure.”
Learn more about their travels in the video below.
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Source: CBS Mornings, Grandma Joy’s Road Trip, FOX Weather, ABC 7, GMA