Frequently
Asked Questions
What is Desert Adventures?
Desert Adventures
was founded in March of 1980 by a group of people who got together one night for
dinner and found themselves discussing the need for an alternative and better way
to meet people and socialize, other than the bars. From that meeting arose
Desert Adventures, an organization designed primarily to provide camping, hiking
and other outdoor activities for members of our community. Since then, Desert
Adventures has expanded its activities to include other recreational activities
as well such as tubing, cycling, pool parties, hot
air ballooning, 4 wheeling, IMAX theater, plays, trips to zoos, museums, botanical
gardens and many other activities.
Click Calendar of Events to
see the list of upcoming adventures (check back here often, the schedule is updated
regularly).
How do
I get information about the activities? On the first Tuesday of
every month we hold a monthly social meeting. In
this meeting the activity leaders present their activity to the group (along with
printed flyers). You have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have
at that time. This meeting is always open to non-members. It gives you
the opportunity to meet some of our members and to see if Desert Adventures is the
right club for you.
What
if I can't attend the monthly social meeting? You're don't have
to attend the monthly social meeting to participate in Desert Adventures.
Your newsletter (or the web site) has all the information you need to participate
in activities. You can pay the activity fees via regular mail (or you can
usually pay for future activities while attending an activity, just find any club
officer and they'll help you out). If you have questions about an activity
you can
For some events (such as a pool party) it's not necessary
to "sign up and pay" ahead of time, you can pay when you arrive but we ask that
you contact the activity leader and let them know you plan to attend (or
RSVP on the Web) so that they can be sure to have enough food
and drink available. The web site (or the flyer) will usually let you know
if it's OK to attend an event without prepaying. If you have any questions
just contact the activity leader or
Do you need to contact us or pay for an activity via mail?
Here's our mailing address...
Do you have
to be a member of the club to participate in an "adventure"? No,
all our activities are open to the community. Guests (non-members) pay slightly
higher activity fees.
So why
would I want to become a member if it's not required? Besides being
able to attend activities at the "members price" you also receive a monthly newsletter
which describes all the upcoming activities, three free quarterly members' parties
and a heavily discounted holiday party. We have a rebate policy which allows
you to "test drive us" completely risk free! If you join Desert Adventures
within 30 days of attending an event we will apply the difference between the guest
price and member price to the cost of your membership.
Are the dues
expensive? No, we only charge $25 a year. Even if your work
schedule keeps you from attending some DA events, the monthly newsletter and the
three free members' parties alone make the $25 annual membership fee worth it!
How
do I join the club? Joining the club is easy! Simply pick up a
membership application at the next monthly social meeting
or you can download one by clicking the application icon on the right (downloading
requires that you have the free
Adobe Acrobat reader installed on your PC). Fill it out right on your PC,
print it out and then either mail it (along with a check for $25) to the club's
PO Box listed above or bring it with you to the next monthly
social meeting.
How
do you decide on what type of "adventures" to include? Traditionally,
the club started out as a camping and hiking club and we continue that tradition
by holding at least one campout a month. Campouts are a great way to relax
and make new friends! Everything else is entirely up to club members.
Each adventure is led by a volunteer from the group and they choose what the activity
will be. All they have to do is bring their idea to the club's activities
chairperson(s) and they will help them with the details of arranging the activity
and promoting it during our social meetings, in the newsletter and on our web site.
This is a great way to share a favorite activity with the group or sometimes a member
will lead an activity that they've always wanted to do but didn't want to do alone
(a trip to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens, for example).
It looks
like most events are held on weekends, is that true? Yes, while
we do hold some activities in the evenings during the week the bulk of our activities
are held on the weekends. Campouts are usually scheduled for Friday through
Sunday (some campouts are extended to 4 or 5 days). You are not required to
attend all three days of a campout. Some of our members join us late on Friday
night (after work) or wait until Saturday morning to arrive. Some of our members
occasionally work weekends but they still find that they "get their money's worth"
even though they only attend a few activities a year. If our membership shows
an interest in more midweek activities we can certainly add them.
Is Desert
Adventures a sex club... I've heard rumors... No, Desert Adventures
is not a dating service. The club consists of both singles and committed couples.
We all know how difficult it is to start up a conversation with someone at a bar
and not have them think it's a pick up line. It's not like that when you're
sitting around a campfire or on a hike and that's the point of the club, to make
new friends in a comfortable environment. Does sex happen on DA events?
Probably, but it's really none of our business what may or may not be happening
between consenting adults in a closed tent.
What kind
of people join Desert Adventures? As everyone has noticed when
the DA members gather for an event, we are a varied group! We are all unique
members of a family that we choose to belong to called Desert Adventures.
Our DA family has historically been a family of more brothers than sisters but the
sisters have always been involved and vocal. Currently we have 86% men and
14% women, which is typical of the mix for many years. While reviewing the
20 DA presidents over the last 20 years, I found that 4 years were lead by women
(20%). We live mostly in the Phoenix Valley area but can be found in 18 other
cities across Arizona and as far away as Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Texas, North
Dakota, Minnesota and California. We are ageless! Although there’s a
50 year span between our youngest and oldest members, the decade with the biggest
percentage is held by the members in their 30’s (almost 1/3 of the group).
Based on the question, “How did you find out about Desert Adventures” from our membership
applications, almost half of the new members said that other DA members told them
about the club. We do our own best advertising!
We gather for fun and to explore the beauty of the great southwest. That’s
our main objective. We enjoy each other’s company, we welcome new members
and we support each other in many ways. Here’s looking forward to the next
20 years!!!
How did we come to choose the "Father
Sky Yei" for the Desert Adventures logo? It all started when we
decided to have some T-shirts made up to promote the club and the club had no logo.
No one had any ideas, so I decided to go to the public library on Central Avenue.
Since we wanted a logo with a Southwestern flavor, I went to the Arizona Room to
look through all the books and magazines that had something to do with Arizona's
culture. While going through some old magazines, I came upon an old photograph
that showed a Navajo Shaman and a traditional sand painting that he had been working
on. In the next picture, a Navajo woman was sitting in the middle of the sand
painting, and the Shaman was reciting some sort of incantation. Apparently,
by sitting on the sand painting and by saying the right words, a person could be
protected from all diseases. I felt that this was so apropos to our community
and lifestyle that I decided to find out just which "yei" the Shaman had painted
in the sand. It turned out to be the "yei" called "Father Sky."
"Father Sky Yei" symbolizes health and protection from diseases.
The black bars are called "The Bars of Happiness" and symbolize happiness and good
times. Beige T-shirts were used to represent the down-to-earth color of the
sand that the "Yei's" are normally painted on.
Brian Evitch, Founder of Desert Adventures
(The name DESERT ADVENTURES, INC. and the logo, "Father Sky yei", are copyright
and trademark protected)