Help...Us buy our first motoerhome......

[Light Ltenergy@...]

Hi Pete,

Well, you definitely put it in clearer and more concise words. But, yes, there
is nothing like a Wanderlodge out there. We lived in Oregon and saw Country
Coach building their coaches (our son in law worked there) and our youngest son
worked at Monaco... We were NOT impressed with Monaco (quality construction
--not in our estimation) at all, and Country Coach was not up to the sturdiness
we wanted. Now Marathon puts together a nice coach, but compared to a
Wanderlodge, it is so much more expensive to begin with. Why pay more for a Bus
Coach ? For us, a Wanderlodge is the best bet for quality, safety, and road
handling.

And speaking of Grandkids... we can comfortably carry four of grandkids (all 6
of them if we need to) because we have two sofas which turn into beds (both do)
and that have seat belts. It is perfect for us and our tribe of family.

We are so tickled we were able to get our 1991 40' PT WB a few months ago. We
are still learning about her... but our Blue is our full time home now and we
are truly happy with our decision to go full time in a Wanderlodge. Now I must
add, we had RVed for 7 years living on the road for long months with my
husband's projects over the last 18 years together, so we knew what RV living
was about. We always had a home to go to ... but we figured out, we really
didn't need anything except what we had with us. So the home got sold and we
are on the road. Wherever the winds blow... so to speak.

Happy hunting for your RV...
Hugs,
Light and Captain D
1991 40' PT WB
in Santa Cruz, CA
soon to be in Auburn, CA






--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, Pete Masterson wrote:
>
> I have to agree. I began looking for a "road cruiser" about 2 years
> before buying our coach. Our plan was to full-time.
>
> Having passed enough RV wrecks (both fiberglas and aluminum), Class
> As, Cs, and various trailers -- I simply decided that the risk,
> however small, of a vehicle that was not substantially built was not
> worth it to me.
>
> I first started looking at bus conversions -- I realized that those
> were based on vehicles that were built to safety standards for the
> traveling public and would be solid with generally acceptable road
> manners. (Some purpose-built RVs trade off low-speed handling against
> good road handling on the highway. It's great to be able to maneuver
> into camp site easily, but the manufacturer can trade that for lousy,
> unstable handling on the highway.)
>
> Bus conversions proved a problem, while there were a few Country coach
> and marathon built "commercial" conversions, most were home built with
> engineering and construction quality ranging from abdominal to
> outstanding -- but how could I tell -- for sure? Many of the
> commercial conversions were "entertainer" coaches -- often with 6 to
> 12 bunks (for the band) -- but those would all have required extensive
> remodeling to turn into what I was looking for.
>
> Then I discovered the Wanderlodge. It's built on a very solid school
> bus chassis (newest in 1989) and on a similar highway bus chassis for
> the Wide Body models (introduced in 1989). These were true "bus
> conversions" but with a coherent production line design and solid
> engineering. While each Wanderlodge is semi-custom (especially those
> where they were presold before construction began), there is enough
> uniformity from coach to coach that it's a proven design. The design,
> over the years, has evolved so the learning that went before isn't
> discarded.
>
> The key and final decider was the wonderful online lists (this one and
> the Wanderlodge Owners Group Forum) where help and advice was freely
> given and problems were often easy to identify and solve. (Problems
> range from "how do I turn on the heat" to more complex maintenance and
> service issues.) Even though Marathon and Country Coach have a lot of
> converted Prevost units on the road, no similar online sharing seems
> to be available -- at least, not to the extent that the Wanderlodge
> lists offer. (This may be because there are so many older Wanderlodges
> on the road. The first ones were built in the mid-60s -- and even some
> of those are still in use -- and there are many more from the 70s and
> 80s where owners are sharing their experiences with restoration,
> upgrade, etc. This is not the case with the Prevost-based commercial
> conversions. It gives new Wanderlodge owners a place to go and share
> experiences.)
>
> Circumstances required us to sell our coach earlier this year (our
> plan to full-time having been seriously interfered with by the real
> estate market crash and other factors) -- but I truly loved my
> Wanderlodge and deeply regretted having to sell it. Hopefully, our
> situation will turn around and I'll be able to get another WL in the
> future.
>
> Finally -- and this is the key -- you MUST carefully evaluate your
> needs and desired living arrangement. If you plan to carry
> grandchildren with you frequently -- or if you only wish to use a
> coach infrequently (and so on) your needs may or may not be well
> served by a Wanderlodge. But, if your basic needs are met by the RVing
> experience that a Wanderlodge offers, then you will be very happy you
> got one.
>
> Pete Masterson
> (former) '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
> El Sobrante CA
> aeonix1@...
>
>
>
>
> On Jan 12, 2010, at 12:09 PM, Light Ltenergy@... wrote:
>
> > <snip>Our brother bought our 26 footer and it was hit and was so
> > badly trashed ( like a toy) , we decided right then to not buy
> > fiberglass again. There is always a trade off with RVs... usually
> > MANY trade offs. BUT once we made up our minds to look a Class A's,
> > we just kept coming back to Bluebirds. There is LOTS of support
> > within the Bluebird family of owners. It has been invaluable.
> >
> > As far as the BUS goes... We wanted a metal body and solid
> > construction and a million mile engine. For us it was Bluebird or
> > Prevost. We didn't consider others, because we wanted steel
> > bodies. For the price and the quality the Bluebird is a steal these
> > days. We absolutely LOVE our Bird! We ended up with a 1991 40 PT
> > WB... When it was new it was around $450K... so the quality is there.
> <snip>
>