Organizational Fine Print
and Choice Pieces of Potentially Useful Information
General Trip Information
1. The Mojave River Valley Museum has two sections (groups) that explore the desert environment (Museum membership required):
a. The Desert Explorers, who use 4WD vehicles and cover the Southwestern states and Mexico/Baja, camping out wherever nightfall catches them. The trips are led by numerous experienced desert rats. The Desert Explorers' newsletter is available for $18 a year.
b. The Mojave River Explorers, who establish a base camp in the Mojave desert, usually with motorhomes and trailers, make daily 4WD/2WD sorties, attempting to find seats for those without 4WD vehicles, and return to the base camp each night. The trips are led by experienced Museum members who, collectively, have spent decades learning the hidden wonders of the Mojave. Their Newsletter is available for $7/year from Editor Gene Stoops, (760) 253-2419.
2. You MUST be a member of the Mojave River Valley Museum to attend a trip. A Membership Applications is included here.
3.
When you join a trip, you agree to abide by the decisions and directives
of the leader throughout the trip or until such time as you inform the
leader that you are leaving the group to proceed on your own. The leader
may, if his decisions or directives are not followed, inform a participant
that his participation in the trip is terminated.
4.
The Desert Explorers is a family oriented 4WD organization. Spouses and
kids are welcome. Friendly dogs are OK as specified below. Trips will meet
and depart from somewhere near the trip route, usually not from the
Museum.
5. To receive the Desert Explorers' newsletter, send $20 for a subscription to Marilyn Martin, PO Box 291759, Phelan, CA 92329-1759. Make the check out to Mojave River Valley Museum.
Communications:
CB is required and is the normal mode of communications between vehicles
on a trip. Channel 13 is the Desert Explorers' channel. Its a good idea to
monitor it whenever you are driving so that other members can contact you
should they spot your vehicle on the road.
Third
Weekend Trips: There is usually one major trip each month, normally on the third weekend. This will be the trip on which you can look around and find old
friends, new friends, collect debts, flirt with other wives/husbands and
lie about other trips. There may be another trip during the month for
people who have time for it or can’t make the main trip. The purpose of
all this is to generate more coherence as a group and get everybody to
know everybody. We stole this idea from the Mojave Desert Explorers.
Don’t forget their fixed-camp trips on the first weekend of the month.
Trip
Coordinator: Send your trip proposals to Mal Roode. Mal will
resolve any time conflicts and maybe bug you if you are late with a
promised trip write-up. He will also coordinate private trips for
subscribers upon request
(see below).
Private
Trip Point of Contact: We publish reports of subscribers' private trips in order to
fill the pages, encourage you to get out into The Great American Desert,
and to amuse and entertain you. Some trips, because of time or limited
number of people, are not suitable for Official Museum Trip status. Our
Trip Coordinator is the point of contact for people having or wanting to
go on a private trip.
Potluck:
There will be a Potluck on Saturday night of our weekend trips unless
otherwise noted by the Leader.
Trip
Details: Participants may be be required to send a SASE to the trip leader
to receive information on trip meeting place, and other details. A SASE is
a self addressed stamped envelope.
Finances:
The cost of preparing and mailing the Desert Explorers newsletter
is covered by the annual subscription fee as are extraordinary
out-of-pocket expenses by Trip Leaders or others, which are incurred as a
result of Desert Explorer activities. These expenses include costs of
telephone calls, office supplies and postage but do not include any travel
expenses, vehicle damage or personal injures. Other extraordinary expenses
must be authorized by the Executive Committee.
Hot
Tips for Leaders:
1.
The leader is responsible for sending the trip announcement and trip
report to the newsletter editor. The write-ups should be detailed enough
so the participants will know what to expect and, if possible, have enough
information in it so that a SASE is not necessary. (See the ones in this
issue for examples.)
2.
Try not to schedule trips on the first weekend of the month. This weekend
is used regularly by the Mojave Desert Explorers for their outings.
3.
Try not to use a reservation system or vehicle limits unless absolutely
necessary. This will save
paperwork for everyone. Request a SASE if necessary for sending out
further trip details, meeting place, time, etc.
4.
Support your other leader’s trips (by attending) or the Trail Gods will
get you.
5.
Maximum loss (vehicles or people) is 10% per trip.
6.
Leaders, please put your CB channel 13 (or other channel if circumstances
prevent using Desert Explorers channel 13) in your trip write-up.
Dog
Policy:
Dogs
can become a problem in camp mainly because of the large number of them
and the sometimes blind eye of their humans.
Therefore, and forevermore we will have a Dog Policy so that shy
leaders will not have to make ad hoc policy.
1.
Bringing a dog on a trip requires the ADVANCE PERMISSION of the Leader!
2.
Dogs will be leashed/confined during happy hour & mealtimes.
3.
People with dogs will be expected to clean up any poop in the campsite.
4.
Dogs that fight, harass wildlife, eat small children etc., will be
confined and banned from future trips.
