Grandmother and grandson visit 62

national parks on adventure of a lifetime.

Joy Ryan, 92, had never seen a mountain. So her grandson decided to take her
to every site that has ‘national park’ in its name.

Their trip last August to Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska was one
of many journeys Ryan has embarked on with his paternal grandmother, Joy
Ryan — whom he calls “Grandma Joy.” They are on a shared mission to visit
63 U.S.
The national park project began spontaneously seven years ago. Brad
was stunned when his grandmother — who he knew was deeply fond of
nature — told him she’d never seen a mountain in person.
At the time, he was beginning his final year of veterinary school at Ohio
State University, and Joy had been a widow for 20 years and was living
alone in the same tiny town where she grew up.
In October 2015, they packed up Brad’s Ford Escape Hybrid and hit the road,
driving through the night. Once they arrived at the park, “she not only saw
mountains, but she climbed mountains with me,” “Even when the rain was
pouring down, she was smiling.”
Growing up, Brad described his relationship with his grandmother as “idyllic.”
“We were very close throughout my childhood,” he recalled, saying he has
vivid memories of catching frogs with her at their neighborhood park in
Duncan Falls.
“My grandma was the one who was very adamant about me being out in
nature, and I think my love of animals, in part, came from the exposure that I
got to nature from her,”
But their bond fractured when Brad was in college, amid his parents’ divorce.
There was a 10-year period where he and his grandmother didn’t speak.
Rebuilding their bond, he said, was accelerated as they began spending
countless hours on the open road. Side by side, they’ve driven nearly 50,000
miles.
After the first trip, which Brad paid for, he started a GoFundMe page, as he
knew they couldn’t afford to visit all the national parks on their list. They
raised nearly $3,000 in one fundraising round, and close to $9,000 in another.
The funds paid for a month-long road trip in the summer of 2017, during
which they saw 21 national parks.
In 2019, Brad began chronicling their journey on social media to share with
family and friends. Once their story started appearing in local news, various
companies and travel agencies began reaching out with offers to sponsor their
trips.
the next year, they are planning to make it to the last national park on their
list: the National Park of American Samoa.
then we will start going to state parks." Indeed, Brad plans to continue
showing his grandmother the country, and perhaps even the
world.