Wanderlodge II (?) on Bird of the Week

[bberic35]

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mbulriss" <mbulriss@...> wrote:
>
> I saw the following note from Bill Schreurs regarding the Bird of the Week
photo this week. It got posted as a comment on the picture in the Bird of the
Week albumn, but I assume Bill intended it to be a post rather than a picture
comment:
> ----
> Hi Mike:
> Nice pic of the 84. Question, are you sure this is a Wanderlodge II, as Bob
and Sandi's Wanderlodge II does not have any of the frills, including goat rail,
searchlight, musical horns plus many other things.
> I wish I had my 84 still.
>
> Bill
> ----
>
> To honest, I was just reading the Wanderlodge II decal on the side of the
Bird, so I have always assumed that is what it is. My understanding was that
you could order options that you wanted on the Wanderlodge II, just like any
other Bird, so I assume the original purchaser ordered it with those items.
Perhaps Eric will enlighten us further on his Bird.
>
> Mike Bulriss
> 1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
> San Antonio, TX
>
Hello Bill,
Mike is right. It is a Wanderlodge II. The Wanderlodge II was a brief
experiment by Blue Bird company to offer many standard features as options in
hopes they would appeal to a wider range of buyers. The story I've heard is
they quit doing this after finding that many people wanted almost all of the
options anyway. I've always suspected the real reason was they didn't like
dealing with the added complexity on the production line. We've owned this
coach since 2000 when we bought it with 65,000 miles on it. It's got 127,000
miles on it now and we still enjoy taking trips in it. The only thing we've
added to the coach is a set of musical horns that I took off Rick Archie's
wrecked Wanderlodge II.
Eric Johnson
1984 FC35SBWLII "Mother Ship"
San Antonio, Texas