I would do my research, hang out with them see how they act towards you and each other. so far i have yet to find a club that gets along at the high level of the people on this site. heck the same goes for the forums. you dont have to be in the club to attend their shows usually, and going to the meetings can be tedious if it just a bunch of arguing all the time. too much like a job,
seriously though, im only four hours away and there are others in the bay area. there can be some mav gatherings.
well im hoping another meet up gets scheduled out there. in the mean time i am going to a small show saturday in minden, NV and plan to hit hot august nights at least once as a drive by.