Ownership history back to 2004.

Records for old vehicles like the Wanderlodge are hard to find but I have had good success. Here is what I have been able to find out …

Jeff Miller from Holland Michigan bought it sometime around the end of 2003. Jeff was active on some forums as “bluebirdman”.  Jeff would buy, refurbish and sell Wanderlodges through his dealership named “Miller Coachworks”.   The archive.org wayback machine shows our bus was first mentioned for sale on February 04 2004, stating that it would be available in late February 2004.  For whatever reason it was not actually sold until December 04, 2004 which is when the webpage was updated.

Tim and Lin Telder from DeTour Village Michigan, username RVVI on WOG, were the next owners.  Tim posted on WOG (Wanderlodge Owners Group) that he bought the coach from Jeff Miller.   They used it until sometime in 2010 when they listed it with “Randy” from WOG on his buybyebluebird.com website, it was first put online sometime around July 01, 2010.   

Marcus J Niemela from Houghton Michigan was the next owner, he was user Marjames on WOG, named it “Ramblin’ Fever”.   He commented on September 08, 2012 that while taking his parents for a ride he was sideswiped.   After repairs were expertly completed he tried to sell it on eBay and craigslist a couple times.  A WOG member called him to find out his asking price, he said Fifty Thousand!  Unfortunately his first eBay auction ended January 26, 2015 and only got 12 bids, up to $25k and didn’t clear the reserve.   He tried a year later on eBay and his auction ended January 13 2016 with a sale for $40k with 34 bids!   Buyer was Drew Castle from Ohio.  Drew created a nice Youtube video of his maiden voyage home to Ohio:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8EDowTa9fI

I don’t know the origin of the next sale, I think I heard it was eBay, but the next buyer was Dean Bolinger from Bend, OR who paid $37,600.00 for the coach.  Dean Bolinger, “The Bodekas” on WOG, flew out to Dayton OH on September 20, 2016 to drive it back to his home in Bend Oregon.  Dean and Kate named the coach “AWOL”.

Mike Kelley (me) sent an unsolicited note to members of various Wanderlodge Facebook Groups that had over the years mentioned they might be willing to sell their coach.  I was lucky enough to find a small comment by Kate and Dean Bolinger with pictures of this incredible machine and the rest is history.   In mid to late February 2023 we came to an agreement on price and payment.   Mike flew in to Oregon to meet Kate and Dean, both very kind and welcoming, they clearly loved the coach very much and it shows.    I agreed to pay $35,000.00  in cash for the coach, Mike drove it home to Boston on February 20, 2023, which is where my blog posts begin.

Pictures are from the 2016 eBay auction.  look at the interior and the big bird on the back!