Last year we mentioned Joy Ryan and her grandson Brad Ryan who were on an adventure to visit U.S. National parks together.
93-year-old Grandma Ryan told her grandson that she regretted not taking more trips in her life. So with that, her grandson was a mission to take her to see them all.
Just recently they completed a seven-year quest to visit all 63 U.S. national parks.
Joy Ryan and her grandson Brad Ryan documented and shared their adventures on Instagram through @grandmajoysroadtrip.
The pair hit their 63rd national park just this week, visiting the National Park of American Samoa, according to a post on Instagram.
“Grandma Joy made history today as the oldest living person to visit every U.S. National Park! What more can I say? It was the greatest privilege of my life to be in the driver’s seat for Grandma Joy’s Road Trip,” Brad Ryan wrote in the post, showing a photo of them holding official certificates from the National Park Service.
Grandma Joy and her grandson began their adventure by visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park back in September of 2015.
It took them four years to visit 29 of the national parks, according to Brad Ryan.
Her grandson created a GoFundMe in 2017 to help pay for travel expenses to the remaining parks on their checklist.
“Your generosity has fueled my dream to give Grandma Joy access to the great outdoors she didn’t experience in her first 85 years of life,” Brad Ryan wrote.
The fundraiser allowed the pair to enjoy their adventure without financial constraints.
“We defied erroneous assumptions about the limitations of aging,” Brad Ryan wrote on Instagram. “We even defied a pandemic. And you might have noticed that I accidentally made Grandma Joy the superstar I always knew her to be.”
Source: Wnem