The Yellow Brew Bus serves Central Oregon and is adding more brewery and winery tours as the business takes hold. 

We’ve all been there. It’s 10 p.m. and you and a group of friends are drunk and stuck, walking on the side of a rural road out in front of one of the many pubs, breweries, wine bars and taverns that just closed, trying to hail a ride service that will fit everyone — while you wait between gusts of late winter squalls and you’re not sure how exactly you are going to get home.

Or: You’ve been to just about every pub in town and are looking for something different and exciting to do with your friends in Redmond. And you’ve always wanted to go for a ride but also be tipsy at the same time.

The problem is that there are few alcohol-conscious rides outside of Bend’s cloistered metropolitan area. Nothing has been available for those of us imbibing outside of Bend — until now.

Enter Jon Wilson, owner of the Yellow Brew Bus. The bus is a transportation service with a boozy flair based in Redmond and committed to serving all of Central Oregon.

On the outside, the bus is unassuming, emblazoned in its original scholastic yellow. But inside is a different story. It comes alive with LED lights strung across the ceiling, television and music turned up, a renovated interior with wood floors and a drink cooler with a bar right down the middle. This is no ordinary schoolbus.

I immediately imagined how the Cascades would look from the windows with a beer in my hand, surrounded by friends.

It seems like a necessary service as more breweries, wineries, distilleries and tap houses flood into the area.

The Brew Bus can be a safe, fun alternative for transporting groups of inebriated people.

Wilson got a taste for the industry while working in various breweries in Reno, Nev., and decided to try establishing a business in Central Oregon. While working at breweries in Reno, tourists kept asking about brewery and wine tours, planting an idea in his head.

He is also working with Janel Maurer, owner of Eqwine Wine, just one of the new wine bars in Redmond.

The Yellow Brew Bus will pick you up for a one-way drop-off/pickup service for $160. Sporting a 30-mile radius from Bend, you can be driven the entire Central Oregon wine tour for $80.

For more information or to get a ride, contact Jon Wilson, wilson@yellowbrewbus.com or go to yellowbrewbus.com.