BY SCOTT HADDOW
Wild Northerner staff
With two good friends by her side, Amy Stewart knew she was in for one hell of a ride across Canada.
Stewart was in a dilemma last summer. She had to figure out how to get her belongings, her dog, Dolce, and herself from Greater Sudbury to Edmonton. Stewart was moving to Edmonton to be with her boyfriend who had got a job out in Alberta.
Stewart ran the idea by two friends, Katie Andrighetti and Shannon Scodnick. What the three came up with was going to change their lives, even though they didn’t know it. Stewart and Andrighetti, both 25, have been friends since they were 12 and grew up playing sports together. Scodnick, also 25, and Stewart knew each other for a few years prior to last year, having worked together in the past. Andrighetti and Scodnick became friends last year through Stewart and had only met twice before going all in on a two-week crazy adventure.
They rented a recreational vehicle and made no concrete plans and took off to see the country as wild and free women. They did put away time to see Scodnick’s mother, who lives in Vancouver. They embarked on a journey of fun, discovery and fulfillment across the country.
“I couldn't imagine the experience without them,” Stewart said. “We all have a love to travel and have talked so many times separately about seeing more of the world. The day we left Sudbury, we were instantly united as if we had been friends for life and our bond, throughout the next two weeks, did nothing but grow stronger. We were a tripod - we weren't one without the other. I can't put it into words the amount of love and respect I have for these women. The experience we had from the uncontrollable laughter, to the amazing and breath taking views we were able to see, will forever be a part of me. If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't change one thing. I think the trip affected us all in different ways, but I know we can all agree it gave us a better understanding of ourselves and our country. I will forever cherish the memories I have, and most importantly, the friends I made them with.”
The three friends looked into a lot of options before deciding on an RV to get across Canada. They looked at different vehicle and trailer choices, but the cost was too much for their liking. They finally found a company - Cana Dream - which had purchased a new fleet of RVs and wanted to distribute them across the country out of Toronto. This led the women into getting a “good deal” and they went this route.
Stewart went and picked up the RV in Toronto and brought it back to Sudbury. The jaws on Andrighetti and Scodnick hit the ground when they saw Stewart pulling up the street towards her place. Stewart was behind the wheel of a 30-foot “beast” and honking the horn and smiling from ear-to-ear. The women were so stoked about the trip that, they slept in the RV the night before they left.
“When I first saw it, I thought we needed a special licence to drive it,” Scodnick said. “We were excited to go. We knew it was going to be incredible and it was amazing. It meant a lot to explore Canada. I couldn’t have asked for two better people to do it with. We had so many good bonding experiences. We all got closer. It is something I would never take for granted.”
The three friends made it to Thunder Bay by the end of their first day. They admit it took them until Sault Ste. Marie to properly and efficiently drive the huge vehicle, which they had zero previous experience doing so.