What’s the Story with the Big Blue Bus in Northern Colorado?

The foothills, Horsetooth Reservoir, and the flowing Poudre River are iconic points of interest in Northern Colorado. But just north of Fort Collins, in the small town of Bellvue, another eye-catching, local landmark stands out to those passing by.

For the past 20 years, a bright blue bus has been a permanent fixture in a field along N. County Road 25E. With nothing else around it, many people are curious about the story behind this stationary vehicle.

Since there are no signs near the bus explaining its origin story, it took some digging on the internet to find out more about it. Fortunately, several months ago, the person who built the bus shared this interesting information via Reddit.

According to the bus's architect, from 1989 to 1993, more than 4,000 hours were put into building the unique vehicle. The massive project was done in California. It's fully self-contained and was made with two VW vans welded onto the top of the bus. The person who built the bus lived in it for years and took it around the country to 27 states for Grateful Dead tours and Rainbow gatherings.

The post further explained that the front 1965 VW had the roof of the big bus cut out below it, creating a tall ceiling for the living room. It had a wood beam coffered ceiling that covered tube steel support for the roof deck, which was built into the roof of the front VW.

The back portion of the bus is taller and was made using a 1963 VW van. A steep boat ladder led up into the bedroom. The back door of the rear VW opened so that there was a view from the bedroom and a skylight hatch provided extra light.

The inside of the bus is all redwood, with over 30 hand-made cabinet doors. The oak floor was salvaged from a 1920s Beverly Hills mansion ballroom floor. There's even a full kitchen and a bathroom. A wood-burning stove and solar panels added to the self-sufficiency of the motorbus.

The owners called the bus 'Miss Construed.'

Besides taking the blue bus to concerts and gatherings, it was often parked at events around Fort Collins. Throughout the '90s, it was commonly seen at the City Park fireworks or up at Mishawaka Amphitheater.

In 1988, before the bus was built into a traveling home, it was taken on a summer tour. During this trek, it became known as the breakfast bus, because the owners would serve two eggs, two pancakes, and hashbrowns for $3 to hundreds of people every morning.

The Reddit user explained that life's unexpected turns resulted in losing ownership of the bus around 2005. Since then, it's sat in the field in Bellvue, near Noosa Yoghurt. There have been discussions of possibly moving the bus down the road onto Noosa's property and restoring it as a permanent installation where people could sit and drink coffee. However, nothing official has been planned yet.

Right now, Miss Construed can be viewed from the Kat Dairy Loop and Dirty Dairy Loop, which are both popular routes with cyclists. It can also be seen right from the road while driving by on N. County Road 25E.