- A grandson and his grandmother, 93, visited 63 US national parks in less than 8 years.
- The duo started their journey in 2015 after the grandmother said she had never seen the ocean or a mountain range.
A grandmother and grandson duo made a pact to visit 63 US national parks in 2015.
Less than eight years later, they completed their journey.
Brad Ryan, 41, and his grandmother, Joy, who is 93, reached the final stop last week when they visited the National Park of American Samoa, a faraway atoll that is part of Polynesia in the South Pacific, park officials said in a Facebook post last week.
"This was not simply a checklist journey, but one of reconciliation and healing. Today, we were honored to host them as they arrived at their 63rd park and accomplished their goal," park officials said. "Their story is amazing and we are grateful to be part of it."
Years ago, Joy told to her grandson that she had never seen the ocean or a mountain range. So in 2015, the two went on their first trip together to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Insider previously reported. The rest is history.
Ryan started a GoFundMe to raise money for their trips and has been documenting their adventures on an Instagram account dubbed @grandmajoysroadtrip, which has more than 75,000 followers. In a recent post, Ryan highlighted that his grandmother is the oldest living person to visit every national park.
"What more can I say?" he wrote. "It was the greatest privilege of my life to be in the driver's seat for Grandma Joy's Road Trip."