01/23/2025
Most who have inquired in the past few months know already but for others wondering why we aren’t open for 2025 I wanted to make a formal post. As my family welcomes our first newborn into the world here in a few weeks, we have taken a step back for 2025 from the bus side of our LLCs and will not be taking any bookings for at least this year. Time is a currency you can’t get back and one that has become more important to my family these past few years.
The Journey
It seems like just yesterday that our first bus was still just an idea in Fall of 2015 when my friend Tanner sent me a cragislist listing for a $2500 orange Ford bus in our area so we could have a party bus to ride around in. Every time that I came back to Stout to visit I either couldn’t get a taxi or it took them an hour to get to our place and the fare was always different. The next thought was how to make an affordable, safe, and fun ride share service that was still profitable. I was still living in IL at the time on a job site so Steve and Big Roger went to check this orange bus out. Not long after, I got a Snapchat from Steve riding shotgun with Big Roger driving it home. I then called 5 insurance companies and finally, a guy named Bob got us insured. There we had it, our first bus and an approved taxi permit then we were set for sober shuttling around Menomonie on New Years Eve in 2016 for $3/ride. We didn’t know what to expect with just some Facebook advertising and a few Snapchat posts. We had around 150 riders that night and knew if we kept at it, it could turn out alright.
Then came February. After a 300 person shuttling day for pond hockey we decided we needed a second bus. I fired up Craigslist and found our second bus in MN. Big Roger, Jake, and braved the snowstorm and got it home.
A few months passed by and we kept getting calls for people needing a larger bus. Along came the bus we called Helga or to the public 1738. It wasn’t much to look at when we got it but after some TLC and some fresh paint it turned into one of our most reliable simple buses for our fleet in the beginning.
Well 3 wasn’t enough so we needed one more size in between our 14 passengers and our 36. No phone number from the seller and only email communication to go off of, Big Roger and his 6 pack of diet Mountain Dew, myself, Jake, and Kevin headed out for Detroit where this other bus was at. The seller pulled up to us in a new McLaren. Big Roger was so starstuck by it and asked “how much is this? $100k?.” The guy replied “Try $275k” 🤯😅
9 hours later we were back home and the bus was then named “VIP Bus” which we ran up until the end of 2024.
The next year we added a 48 passenger forward facing seat bus to the fleet for our larger wedding shuttles. That same week we found “Limearita” our green bus that was a staple for us for 5+ years.
Wedding shuttles started to become over half of what we did. We wanted to give a better ride on some of those longer trips to the more remote venues we were shuttling from. We also wanted air conditioning in every bus. We then found our first then second coach style bus gaining a fleet up to 5 buses that summer of 2019.
Then Covid hit.
The Wisconsin University system went all virtual and the bars / most small businesses in Wi were shut down for months. With the Menomonie bar scene never really recovering from pre2020 we never went back to the sober shuttle and focused on private events only moving forward.
2021 was still a recovering year after selling our coach bus and buying / building out the Silver Bullet bus out to be a great all around party bus and wedding shuttle that we still have today.
Most of our drivers have been with us since the beginning and they were the reason for our growth and memories made with all of you. Thank you for the 500k+ safe miles and memories made with our clients.
The thing that gets told to us drivers the most is that us drivers probably seen the craziest things on the bus. Yes, sometimes that is the case, but I think the biggest takeaway from the buses is the days or evenings spent on bookings with everyone, are on some of our clients’ best days as well between birthdays, bachelor/bachelorette parties, and wedding shuttles. It has been a privilege to be able to be a small part of those special days.
We genuinely want to thank everyone for being a part of this journey with us over the past 9 years and this might just be a see you later after our family grows. Feel free to post your pics on the bus or a fun memory you’ve had with us.
Always
Austin
Other Local Party Bus Companies
Eau Claire Based:
Chubbs Party Bus 715.579.5280
Cody Shuttles 715.577.7777
Getaway Party Bus 715.559.2858
Eleva Based:
Flyin Ryan's 715.287.4140
Ellsworth Based:
Broz Bus 715.497.3894
Other Large Group Transportation Options
Menomonie Based:
Menomonie Transportation 715.235.4995
Eau Claire Based:
Rightway Shuttle 715.210.6791
Student Transit 715.839.5116
Chippewa Yellow Bus 715.726.2451
