I was looking through some old pics and came across a few from the October 2012 trip. This is how I found SCJB and why I stayed.

At that time I had my first boat, a '73 Southwind that had been painted white and was powered by the Olds 455/Jacuzzi combo. I know...I was off to a good start. It was for sure a learning experience. A couple months prior I found the forum and began lurking to learn and understand what I had gotten myself into with this jet boat.

Flash forward a couple months. My pops and I load up the boat and head to Laughlin for the SCJB fall get-together. We roll into the AVI parking lot Friday afternoon as a storm blows in. All hell breaks loose and a group of about ten of us take shelter under an EZ-UP in the parking lot. Naturally, that gets the conversation going and we receive a very warm welcome to the group. I didn't know what to expect as it was our first trip, but we had a blast with everyone. Not to mention drooling over all the beautiful boats.

I appreciate the hell out of this group, the familiar faces I see at the river, and the wealth of knowledge available on this forum.

Cheers to everyone at the river. I'll be out there when I get home from tour in a month.