A handcrafted ring + return to Providence Bay

In my hand is a ring made by one of C's First Nation students...

The young lady who made it is a teenager and part of the Objibwe tribe on Manitoulin Island. It looks quite delicate and I'm almost afraid to even wear it...


The ring is handcrafted with beads surround a mother of pearl button which is backed with leather.

C actually gave me two; the other (not pictured) is in shades of purple and blue beads.

It's a lovely little statement ring and certainly very unique!

The girls changed into their bathing suits in the van while I wandered near the boardwalk looking at the local flora...

I wish I knew what these were called, but these flowers looked so neat with their puffy bell shape and the purple and white net pattern.

Providence Bay is a small village community in the south central part of the island.  It is known for having the best sandy beach on the island as well as an extensive boardwalk...

and a children's play area (which was upgraded since our last visit). We had a good time trying out all the little exercise things as well (seen in the foreground).

Further off is the beach itself, with gentle little dunes and a wide stretch of sandy beach.

It was a bit chilly for me, but the girls were troopers. TC was 11 (going on 12) at the time while C's daughter was 3 1/2. They didn't seem to mind the temperatures and both ventured into the water after romping around the sand.

The lake doesn't have big waves like the beaches in San Diego. It's pretty calm and gentle.

This part of beach had a lot of crushed up shells and rocks in the sand, which called for careful walking. TC and LO had fun scooping up mud...

See that dot in the distance? That's TC!

The water here was quite shallow and she was able to walk out pretty far without being totally submerged in water.  As for me, I'm hydrophobic, plus I'm a wimp and I didn't want to get my feet wet!

Previous visit to Providence Bay
Our 2010 trip

Just a few more musical throwdowns here...

Canadian band Red Rider's atmospheric "Lunatic Fringe":

Plus another Canadian rocker - this time, the one hit wonder, Aldo Nova with "Fantasy":

I totally remember this song back in junior high! The beginning of the song had helicopter sound effects.

Hell yeah, back then (and now) rockers listened to KGB FM 101.5. There used to be a commercial that had a robotic voice which said, "KGB FM...rocks Saaaaaan Dieeeeegoooo!".

I found this old video snipper circa 1984, when KGB had radio meshed with video on TV. I used to listen to this dj, Sue Delany.

She was one of my favorites, along with Pat Martin and Jim McGinnis in the 80's. Man the news she reads on these segments is pretty old. Jimmy Page starts a new supergroup the Firm? Steve Perry doing a solo album? The movie "Vision Quest" was also mentioned (featuring former San Diegan actor, Matthew Modine). Loved the top ten list at the end!

Bert still has his KGB card somewhere. This was a card that entitled the bearer to discounts around town.

Speaking of one-hit wonders, here's another one, Men Without Hats' 80's classic, "The Safety Dance" (I didn't even know they were Canadian until I did a search for Canadian bands):

(what was up with those medieval peasant outfits?)

which was parodied brilliantly by Wierd Al Yankovic as "The Brady Bunch":

(Wierd Al is a musical and lyrical genius!)

We were pretty tired by this point so it was time to head back to C's parents to rest up and then come on over to help C make a traditional Canadian dish for our dinner...