Brad and Joy post their trips on their Instagram account
Would you travel across the United States from park to park? And at 89 years old? Well here is the clear example that everything is a matter of attitude.
Joy Ryan , just eleven years after celebrating a century of life, she has visited (hand in hand with her grandson Brad) nothing more and nothing less than 49 national parks from 48 different states.
grandmother and grandson , Both of Ohio , began this adventure during the fourth year of Brad's career, which is currently he is a veterinarian and he is specialized in wildlife.
Joy saw hers for the first time a mountain of hers at 85 years old
“We travel to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee . I remember a previous conversation I had with my grandmother in which I learned that At almost 85 years old, she had never seen a mountain. I was not having a good time and Mother Nature has always been my best healer ”, explains Brad to Traveler.es.
“I thought it was the right time to take Grandma Joy to see a mountain for the first time. And she not only saw it, but also climbed it. This fact gave me a sense of purpose and light that changed my life forever”, he confesses.
Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Joshua Tree, Zion, Everglades, Big Bend, Mammoth Cave, Acadia, the Grand Canyon, and Olympic are some of the national parks on your list.
Brad and Joy just got back from a roadtrip that has lasted 45 days and, despite having driven a total of 64,000 kilometers , they reveal to us that they have not yet run out of gasoline or desire. “We still have 12 more parks to visit in Hawaii, Alaska and other US territories”, Brad points out.
“We have made seven trips ranging from a day trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park , in our home state, Ohio , even the most recent, a month and a half”, says the grandson.
A question arises… Which one will be your favourite? “It is almost impossible to choose one, since each offers something unique. One of the last parks we visited was Big Bend in **Texas** and we both feel like it's one of the most underrated and impressive in the country. It has epic views of the mountains, desert vegetation, the Rio Grande, majestic wildlife... ”, explains Ryan.
What Brad says without hesitation is that this experience has taught him that there is nothing that our spirit cannot bear, since the adversities of Grandma Joy's life they have failed to curb their optimism at any time of this long and wonderful journey.
“She has helped me reevaluate my own negative thoughts. I realized that I've spent most of my life dimming my own light ”, confesses the young man.
“My favorite memory was when a five-year-old European girl, who did not speak English, She sat next to Grandma Joy on the shore of Fishercap Lake, in the Glaciers National Park. We were watching the moose grazing at sunset and the girl she wanted to share her binoculars with my grandmother ”, He tells us wistfully.
"The power of nature was in full swing, in an apparently simple moment that with its strength it defied age, culture and language. Nothing needed to be said,” he concludes.
Your next destination? In December they will head to Hawaii , where they will visit the Volcanoes and Haleakalā National Park. Follow in his footsteps on @grandmajoysroadtrip.