Man takes 89-year-old grandma who’d never seen the ocean or mountains on a grand tour

His 89-year-old grandmother said she’d never seen the ocean or the mountains, but he just couldn’t let it stay that way.

It was 2015 when Brad Ryan, now 38, first heard the story that launched 29 trips, WJLA reported. He was visiting his grandmother — known as Grandma Joy — in Ohio regaling her with stories of his travels when she made a confession that surprised him.

“She said, ‘I haven’t seen the ocean, or the mountains,’” Ryan said, according to the news outlet.

So Ryan took Grandma Joy to the mountains. The Smoky Mountains, to be exact, WOFL reported. But they wouldn’t stop there.

Over the last four years, they’ve traveled more than 25,000 miles, seen 38 states and 29 national parks.

“I felt a calling to ensure she was not forgotten and that she was given the opportunity to live the life of adventure she had never been able to fulfill,” Ryan said, according to the TV station.

Ryan has documented a number of their trips on a Facebook page called Grandma Joy’s Road Trip, and if the pictures are any indication, Grandma Joy has seen a number of mountains and oceans.

The duo has photos of Joshua Trees at the eponymous national park in California and the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. They’ve visited Congaree National Park in South Carolina and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. They’ve posed in the Grand Canyon and the Everglades and explored in Mesa Verde.

To quote the Hank Snow classic, they’ve been everywhere, man.

Ryan says his travels with his grandmother have reminded him of the precious commodity of time.

“When she says, ‘I probably won’t be back here again,’ it always affirms that tomorrow is never guaranteed,” he said, according to WOFL. “We have an obligation to lean into joy with every spectacular sunrise and chorus of birds that greet the morning.”

Ryan says he hopes his trip with Grandma Joy will encourage others to spend more time with their grandparents.

“I want people who are younger to know, you aren’t too cool to hang out with your grandparents,” Ryan said, according to WJLA. “I think we’ve lost that as a society. There’s so much perspective and knowledge we stand to gain from our elders.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2019 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Man takes 89-year-old grandma who’d never seen the ocean or mountains on a grand tour."