The U.S. has 61National Parks — include severalhidden gems — but some people have n’t been to a individual one . Until 2015 , Joy Ryan was one of those citizenry . Her grownup grandson , Brad Ryan , tell her about a hike trip he once take on the Appalachian Trail , and Joy say that in her 85 days , she had never see to it a mountain — except on TV — or an sea . When her husband was still alive , the couple would drive to a lake in Florida , but avoided the sea-coast .
“ She told me at that clock time that she really , really regretted that she did n’t get to do more of that type of thing and have more experiences in sprightliness , ” RyantoldCBS News . Joy , now 89 years older , inhabit in Duncan , Ohio , a “ two - traffic light Ithiel Town . ” She spent most of her life-time working a minimum wage job and raising three sons , two of whom died young . She ’s a leukemia subsister , and in late years has battled pneumonia .
In 2015 , when Ryan was attending veterinary school day , one of his classmates committed suicide . To cope with the tragedy and because life is brusk , he tempt Joy on a three - day encampment trip to theGreat Smoky Mountains , where she finally take the chance to see some sight in veridical life . The adventure went well enough that in 2017 it inspired the unconvincing pair to start a GoFundMecampaignso they could pip up all 61 parks . dart forward to 2019 , and the twosome has visited 29 parks , and counting .
So far , they ’ve visited 38 states — Alaska and Hawaii are next — and driven 25,000 geographical mile in the past three and a one-half years . One prison term a moose dog them , but according to Joy , of the animals they ’ve seen , a prairie dog is her favorite .
Ryantoldthe BBC that this metre with his grandma has animate him , and he ’s liked looking at the world through her eyes . “ It helped me to slow up down — the way she would observe the piddling affair like the color of the mushroom on the ground , ” he say . “ I was concentre on goals , like climb up the mountain , but sometimes it ’s not all about the epic views ; it ’s about enjoying those little moments , too . ”
To see where they end up next , you could abide by Grandma Joy ’s Road Trip onInstagram .
