RV Park near Atlanta

[Fred Hulse]

Bruce

We are sorry that your BB search was not successful,but are happy you found something you liked.

Please let us know when you get in our area and Jeanne and I and the girls would like to visit a while.

Fred & Jeanne Hulse
Morristown Arizona
1997 Wanderlodge WLWB41

[brad barton]

Bruce,

From what I heard from a BB rep before I ever saw my coach, 2000 and a few 2001 models were the last really "built" Wanderlodges in the design and production pipeline from the management group that worked with the Luce family. Apologies to anyone who disagrees. A BB owner in Kansas has had all sorts of trouble with his 2002 and 2003 BB's.

I liked the mid to late 90's coaches too, but we wanted to get away from all the fluorescent lights.

My coach tops out near 50,000 pounds so I don't think they were too concerned about weight at that time. I was a little disappointed in the laminate floor tile but it does have a laser cut design and I don't worry about any stress cracks or breakage from dropped items. I still don't see what's wrong with carpet front to rear. My interior is leather, fabric, corianand solid wood and without a doubt, it is the classiest coach not just that I've ever owned, but that I've ever even seen. And as discussed here before, some people prefer laminate interiors over wood for ease of care and long-lasting looks, but that's no excuse for going cheap on materials. Mine has in-motion satellite and a cd changer. The previous owner removed the dvd player. We just don't watch TV or movies on the road, but then we don't live in it, either.

I'll agree with you about the drawer catches. I wish this one had the positive locks like my old 84FC. If you closed something, it stayed closed, unlike the drawers under my sofa which are embarrassingly bungeed shut. I'm going to try a magnetic catch installed at the rear of the drawers. It worked in my Newell.

There's no doubt the earlier coaches before the 90's had a completely different cache than the newer ones.

All that being said, I would not want to be on the verge of working out all the bugs of a new coach regardless of make. They just expect you to be gracious about all the problemsthey failed to find or fix. I'm not that nice.


BradBarton00LXiDFW bbartonwx@...

---

To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
From: birdshill123@...
Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 00:42:40 +0000
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: RV Park near Atlanta

Mike:

I dont think I have ever been so disappointed . My road trip to
find " The Right Bird" did not go well. 2 of the units I went to see
were real rough. I saw 4 units at Bleakely's and one 2003 was
gorgeous. But it had 2 slides and a horrible drop down Plasma TV. Of
course the price was ridiculous. I think the asking was over $450. I
liked it so much I was offered $350 even though it was too much. I
guess it is still there. I also saw a similar unit at the factory. I
understand from talking to anothr forum member it can be had for
$250. It needed a little loving and it has been there so long they
have been robbing parts to fix other units. While looking at these
units I came to realize that something about these BB's was
different. I know that Brad and David are not going to like what I
am about to say. They seemed to lack that "BB" feel that I got while
looking at the units @ Q. These were all built when BB started to
become concerned about weight. None had tile floors. 2 of them had
this cheap compressed paper with a veneer and one had some sort of
composite tile. Reminded me of those self sticking ones. @ of the
units I looked at had a decorative ceiling panel in the bathroom
similar to what they use in the living room. In both cases they
partially covered the fantastic fan. That is the kind of design
error you expect in one of the plastic MH's not a BB. Every unit I
saw needed upgrades to the audio video systems. By 2001 a CD , DVD
and a satellite system should have been standard eqpt. Only one had
this equipment. Somehow a cassette player does not cut it! There is
an upright steel member in the engine compartment. I dont remember
which side. All of them had rusting problems. Hard to explain but
this piece is a steel tube with a cap on top. The cap has a raised
lip that holds water and maybe snow in the winter. The drawer
construction on these units was no different than any entry level
motorhome. I dont know what type of plwood they use but it is very
light. The joints were some type of half lap. Even our Monaco has
dovetial joints. The drawer catches on our FC are the bulletproof
aircraft type. These BB's all use the same plastic latches you see
on every MH. I would have looked at at some earlier 90's units but
really wanted a DD60 engine. Of course I am an impatient person and
perhaps if I was willing to wait another 6 months the right BB might
have appeared. A renowkned BB expert told me he thinks the 97's are
the best. I also did not want to do any "fixing". One BB that
requires more than maintenace is all I can handle. To make he rest
of this long story short. We bought an 08 Monaco Dyansty. Certainly
not a BB buit it is very nice. We still have our 88 FC and will
continue to use it for Mexico travel and maybe to Q in 09.

Bruce
1988 FC35

---

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[Morey Zuber]

We stayed at Twin Lakes (see Woodalls) at Exit 13 GA 400 about 10 miles
north of 285N Loop. You can go straight down 400 through town to 75S.
It's fine for a few nights, quiet, well managed.
The phone number is 770-887-4400.

[Gregory OConnor]

Bruce, congrats on your new coach. You are an educated consumer so I
am sure it is great product. I notice that friends with new rigs
complain about repairs and problems. I kinda believe that they make
too many assumptions in the operation of the facilities and the
problems are just operator knowhow issues. I also note that every
one who ever got a water leak in a new coach never purged the
plumbing when hooking up. (common place it shows up is in the
icemaker plastic line)
Since you are keeping the FC does that make you "an SOB with a
BlueBird"?????

Bring the new one to Q
GregoryO'Connor
94ptRomolandCa


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "birdshill123"
wrote:
>
> Ernie and Don:
>
> Thanks for thos suggestions. We decided to return to the Atlanta
South
> Rv Resort. It is right off I75 and maybe 30 miles or less to
Atlanta. I
> will just bring a big Doberman and a Shotgun in case any of
> the "residents" get out of hand!!!
>
>
> Bruce
> 1988 FC35
>

[birdshill123]

Greg:

I have been called worse!!!

Bruce
1988 FC35

[birdshill123]

Fred:

We will try and look you up on our annual trek to the Southwest.

Bruce

1988 FC35

[birdshill123]

Brad:

I am pleased that you did not tke offense at my comments as none
was intended. Perhpas some of the problesm are that many of the
coaches were specially ordered by the big BB dealers. That makes
many of them quite different. And of course when buying used the
previous owner can be the problem. I looked at one Bird that was
full of food crumbs and mouse droppings. When I asked for the
service records the dealer ( consignment) gave me a line about they
cannot be released due to privacy laws. Where do they get these
ideas?? I kept notes on all the places I visited and all the birds
but threw them away in frustration. I should have kept them and
written a novel " Bird Quest". I did make an error in my original
post> Bleakely did want over $400 for that 03 but my offer was just
under $300 and they wanted over $300. In retrospect it really was
not worth over $250. Many of the people who buy new RV's do not
even know how to hold a screwdriver. They go back to the dealer to
have a cabinet latch adjusted!

Maybe the lesson to be learned for anyone looking for a Bird is to
buy it from a forum member !!

Bruce
1988 FC35

[Leroy Eckert]

I see nothing has changed at Bleakely's over the past 4 years.

Leroy Eckert
1990 WB-40 Smoke N Mirrors
Dahlonega, GA

birdshill123 wrote:

Mike:

I dont think I have ever been so disappointed . My road trip to
find " The Right Bird" did not go well. 2 of the units I went to see
were real rough. I saw 4 units at Bleakely's and one 2003 was
gorgeous. But it had 2 slides and a horrible drop down Plasma TV. Of
course the price was ridiculous. I think the asking was over $450. I
liked it
so much I was offered $350 even though it was too much. I
guess it is still there. I also saw a similar unit at the factory. I
understand from talking to anothr forum member it can be had for
$250. It needed a little loving and it has been there so long they
have been robbing parts to fix other units. While looking at these
units I came to realize that something about these BB's was
different. I know that Brad and David are not going to like what I
am about to say. They seemed to lack that "BB" feel that I got while
looking at the units @ Q. These were all built when BB started to
become concerned about weight. None had tile floors. 2 of them had
this cheap compressed paper with a veneer and one had some sort of
composite tile. Reminded me of those self sticking ones. @ of the
units I looked at had a decorative ceiling panel in the bathroom
similar to what they use in the living room. In both cases they

partially covered the fantastic fan. That is the kind of design
error you expect in one of the plastic MH's not a BB. Every unit I
saw needed upgrades to the audio video systems. By 2001 a CD , DVD
and a satellite system should have been standard eqpt. Only one had
this equipment. Somehow a cassette player does not cut it! There is
an upright steel member in the engine compartment. I dont remember
which side. All of them had rusting problems. Hard to explain but
this piece is a steel tube with a cap on top. The cap has a raised
lip that holds water and maybe snow in the winter. The drawer
construction on these units was no different than any entry level
motorhome. I dont know what type of plwood they use but it is very
light. The joints were some type of half lap. Even our Monaco has
dovetial joints. The drawer catches on our FC are the bulletproof
aircraft type. These BB's all use the same plastic
latches you see
on every MH. I would have looked at at some earlier 90's units but
really wanted a DD60 engine. Of course I am an impatient person and
perhaps if I was willing to wait another 6 months the right BB might
have appeared. A renowkned BB expert told me he thinks the 97's are
the best. I also did not want to do any "fixing". One BB that
requires more than maintenace is all I can handle. To make he rest
of this long story short. We bought an 08 Monaco Dyansty. Certainly
not a BB buit it is very nice. We still have our 88 FC and will
continue to use it for Mexico travel and maybe to Q in 09.

Bruce
1988 FC35

[brad barton]

David,

My coach is now at the chassis place and they know what to do with the anti-sway bar links.

Spring loaded latches adjustable..okay. Can you remember where they adjust..on the ends or in the middle?

Thanks. At least BB uses real steel..so magnetic catches are an option if the spring latches don't work.

BradBarton00LXiDFW bbartonwx@...

---

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[brad barton]

Bruce,

I'm not totally disabled when it comes to simple repairs but anything I can get done for $65 an hour is a good deal for me. Speaking of mouse droppings...that little sliding trap door under the holding tank outlet...GOTTA KEEP THAT CLOSED. If they can get in there, they can not only have access to just about any place in your basement but they can also climb through the slide mechanism into your kitchen base cabinets, come out around the movable toekicks and go anywhere inside the coach.

BradBarton00LXiDFW bbartonwx@...

---

To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
From: birdshill123@...
Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 11:02:03 +0000
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: RV Park near Atlanta

Brad:

I am pleased that you did not tke offense at my comments as none
was intended. Perhpas some of the problesm are that many of the
coaches were specially ordered by the big BB dealers. That makes
many of them quite different. And of course when buying used the
previous owner can be the problem. I looked at one Bird that was
full of food crumbs and mouse droppings. When I asked for the
service records the dealer ( consignment) gave me a line about they
cannot be released due to privacy laws. Where do they get these
ideas?? I kept notes on all the places I visited and all the birds
but threw them away in frustration. I should have kept them and
written a novel " Bird Quest". I did make an error in my original
post> Bleakely did want over $400 for that 03 but my offer was just
under $300 and they wanted over $300. In retrospect it really was
not worth over $250. Many of the people who buy new RV's do not
even know how to hold a screwdriver. They go back to the dealer to
have a cabinet latch adjusted!

Maybe the lesson to be learned for anyone looking for a Bird is to
buy it from a forum member !!

Bruce
1988 FC35

---

Make every e-mail and IM count. Join the i’m Initiative from Microsoft.