Hiking & Karaoke

Today, I hiked and got over one of my greatest fears - singing in public! After work, Nathan and I went for a short hike since Valerie, the Park Superintendent wanted us to go 25 miles West to the town of Beach, ND to support her in a Karaoke contest at La Playa Mexican Restaurant that night.

On the East Side of the Park, there is an old Ranger Station that used to serve as the entrance to the park back in the 60's when there was no I-94 cutting through the area. The tiny building is still there, but there's almost no indication that there was a road or entrance there at any point.


The whole trail is through a prairie dog town and when we got to the old Station, we almost didn't see the lone buffalo on the other side using the fence as a scratching post to peel his thick winter fur off for spring.


When we got back, we headed almost immediately for La Playa. It has been Valerie's dream for the past year to place in a Karaoke Contest. She recently entered on a cruise and made it to the semi-finals, but wasn't able to pull off the win. Here in Beach, a tiny town of a couple thousand people, she had a chance....but she had to get past Nathan and I first. Yes, after my second daiquiri of the night, I decided I better enter myself in the contest as well. I always thought I'd need a lot of drinks to get up on stage and I found out that exact number tonight: three and the last one had to be STRONG. I can't sing, so I picked the song Killing Me Softly by The Fugees, which turned out to be the old version. It went pretty well - I didn't get booed off the stage like in Guitar Hero and although it's a pretty depressing song, everyone seemed pretty into it.

There were only nine entries, but I didn't have a chance - there were some really good acts. The winner? Yes! Valerie achieved one of her life goals and WON $50 with I Will Survive. My consolation prize? Nathan got the consolation prize for his rendition of Weird Al's Fat (a pretty bold move since he isn't nearly fat enough to make that as hilarious as it should be). Consolation equals last place, which means I got a higher score than him. How could I be upset with an outcome like that? Look out karaoke world, I doubt that will be my last act. I may be hooked!