Photo: Anvesh | Unsplash
Brad and Joy Ryan, grandson and grandmother, have set a goal of visiting all 63 national parks. Since they started the quest in 2015, they have made it to 62. 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 had 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. “I wanted to be able to offer an opportunity for my grandmother to see that first mountain,” said Brad. So he asked Joy -- then 85 -- if she would be interested in a road trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They made that trip, and many, many more. In the process they became best friends. “It’s beyond anything I ever could have imagined in my life,” said Joy. Once the pair completes their national park quest, they plan to start visiting state parks.
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