My name is Wayne Schell. I am 75 and retired.  I was lucky; born into a farm family that taught me the rewards of hard work, ethics, and morals. I have been married to Lin for 56 years. We have two sons, five grandkids, and two great-grandkids.

At 18 I left the farm to explore the world. I worked as a Plumber and learned the trade. I then worked as a Carpenter building houses and larger apartment complexes. I was lucky enough to work with an elderly man who taught me how to use a square to do all the layout work and cut a roof.

At some point, I went to work for a heavy and highway contractor building bridges. I worked my way up the ranks, and at 27, I became a Superintendent. I was in charge of building the Copper Mountain bridge on I-70 west of Denver. I loved the work, but it was not good for family life, so I quit and started building homes. That lasted until the downturn in the 80s and almost broke me.

I heard there was a need for heavy and highway contractors in the Front Range of Colorado, so I started Concrete Structures Inc., which I ran for 39 years. I then sold the company to an employee who had been with me for 30 years.

We loved to go fishing, and on a trip to a Wyoming lake, we drove a Bluebird motorhome. I told “the boss” that someday we will have one of them, and I got one of them “looks”. I started to look into getting one but found out very quickly we couldn’t afford one.

I then told myself that I could build one.   I don’t remember how we got there, but we ended up at a bus show in Ohio (I think). While there, we were touring a bus, and on the table was a Bus Conversion Magazine. I picked it up and was looking through it, and someone said I could have it. When I got home, I ordered a subscription and soon had every magazine printed.

We were building a bridge in Loveland, and in a field next to the site sat a bus. After looking at it all summer, I finally asked the owner about it. It was a '05 Eagle, and the rest is history.

After seven years, the first conversion was done. We started going to rallies, and our lives were forever changed. We now have Bus Nut friends all over the United States. We put over 200,000 miles on the ‘05 Eagle and now our youngest son has it.

After driving the '05 for a couple of years, I found the '15 and started the second bus. Working on the bus was a joy for me. After supper and on the weekends, I would go to my shop, turn on the radio, work on the bus, and the rest of the world would go away.