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Interviews | how-tos | camp foods | camp style | Challenges FALL 2020Ode to Joy!Grandma ProvesGrandma ProvesON PAGE 4090-YEAR OLDToday’s Pop Up Trailers! ON PAGE 63HOW TO CREATE FOIL PACKET MEALSON PAGE 32Win This Trailer!

42 GIRL CAMPER / FALL 2020HOMEMADE HAPPINESSHave you ever thought it might be too late to make a dream come true? Well, let Grandma Joy inspire you to think again! She took her very first camping trip at 85-years-old and she’s still chasing the dream of visiting every National Park.Six years ago, her grandson Brad was headed to The Smoky Mountain National Parks on a weekend campout. When Joy mentioned that she had never been camping, Ben quickly oered to take her along. With a mantra of “I’ll try anything once,” Grandma Joy willingly said yes.It wasn’t an easy entry to the camping lifestyle though. They arrived at 1 a.m. in the pouring rain but that didn’t stop Joy from hopping out of the car to help Brad. She held the umbrella and flashlight while her grandson set up the tent and blew up the air mattresses, all in a steady rain. When Joy finally crawled onto her bed it immediately deflated. She thought she was in a real-life Laurel and Hardy skit! Everything was going wrong. The next morning it was still raining. Not the adventure Joy anticipated. It was fun but not something she would need to repeat. That was until Brad took her on a hike to the top of a mountain. Slow and steady they climbed the steps to the overlook. Everyone was passing them but Brad held her hand and they just kept climbing. When she reached the top, all ODE TO JOY! ON THE ROAD WITH GRANDMA JOY

GIRL CAMPER / FALL 43HOMEMADE HAPPINESSthose who had passed her along the way applauded her and wanted to take a picture with the 85-year old grandma summiting her first mountain. Joy recalls not wanting her picture taken because she “looked like a wild woman with hair sticking out all over!” When Brad invited his grandmother to join him on that first camping adventure, the invitation was more than a chance to see a great National Park. It was an opportunity to heal deep brokenness in their family that had led to a 10-year estrangement. His parent’s divorce a decade earlier had shattered the family. Each member retreated to their own corner to process in their own way. Brad became a bit of a “human doing,” keeping as busy as possible to avoid the pain of these relationships. “I was a solo flyer trying to fill the void in my heart in the aftermath of experiencing the destruction of my family. My father, Grandma Joy’s eldest son, and I remain estranged. It took me a long time to realize it wasn’t fair to hold her accountable for my father’s behavior.”When Brad returned to Ohio to complete his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University, he was living near his grandmother for the first time in many years. It was an opportunity to use this time to recover a once happy relationship. “I called Grandma Joy. She was surprised to hear my voice on the other end of the phone but it was important to me to heal that wound in my own heart. There was no way to turn back the clock and pretend none of it happened. The only option was to start over and create something new.”That first trip to the Smokies was the start of a grand adventure. Their National Parks tour came about organically.

LIFESTYLE(GrandmaJoysRoadTrip), national hotel chains putting them up near parks they can’t easily drive to and appearances on TV that have given Joy “something to look forward to.” Brad says, “As time went on, it became clear to me that showing Grandma Joy all the U.S. National Parks was the best possible use of my life. It filled my proverbial cup in a way that my academic and professional life never could.”Brad and Joy have nine parks left to visit – the Alaskan and Somalian National Parks. They were planning an Alaska trip for 2020 when Covid put a stop to their travels. Brad, who works in a veterinary clinic and is in contact with the public all day, ferociously protects Joy. He brings her groceries and leaves them on her porch but won’t go inside even with a mask. It is their hope to continue after this crisis has passed. Brad says of their physical and emotional trip, “I am immeasurably grateful that our journey turned out the way it did and not with a phone call that she passed while we weren’t speaking. No one wants to carry that burden. The most meaningful messages we receive are from people who chose to reconcile and plan new adventures with someone they love. We are living proof that there’s nothing the road cannot heal.”Although Brad had studied veterinary medicine in South Africa and hiked the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail, (a National Scenic route that runs from Maine to Georgia), he hadn’t explored much of his own country. Joy, who was born and raised in Duncan Falls, Ohio, was still living in the house she settled in as a newlywed in her twenties. With their Smoky Mountains’ adventure helping to heal their relationship, they set out on their second trip the following year – an epic six-week journey visiting the National Parks through the Southwest. Brad upgraded his camping equipment to a large dome tent they could stand in and added cots to sleep on. Brad did the driving and Grandma Joy rode shotgun with the old school Rand McNally Atlas on her lap. They covered 29 parks on that second trip and became good camping partners. At age 86, Joy’s job was taking down and packing up the tent while Brad loaded the rest of the gear in the car. They became a formidable tag team on a mission to see as many parks as they could. As they drove, they talked, laughed, shared and sometimes cried but with each passing mile they left more of the pain behind and created new and happier memories. Joy says of her grandson Brad, “So many people put their old folks in the backseat of their lives. Brad put me in the front seat of his life and made me so important. Many of my friends are envious of that but I want them to know that even if they don’t have a grandson like Brad, they don’t have to stay home. They should call a cab and go visit a friend, take in a movie – just get out and go someplace close to home. You don’t have to sit there waiting to die.” Brad and Joy have become a bit of a cause celeb with an Instagram account of fans 44 GIRL CAMPER / FALL 2020

HOMEMADE HAPPINESSGrandma Joy Wisdom • “If you smile and look in a mirror you will feel better.” • “Kiss my grits! I am going to give it a try!” • “When I die, I don’t want any regrets!” Grandma Joy’s Favorite Things About Camping • “You meet the nicest people who are always willing to help out.”• “When it gets dark and you look up and see all the stars that you never even knew were there.”• “When you’re camping it doesn’t matter if you are a millionaire or a pauper – we’re all the same.”