Chips & Salsa with a side of Nap

On the first night of The Great Road Trip of May 2009, after taking a dip in the hot springs, we decided to go grab a bite to eat. We asked the concierge about some of the restaurants in the area, and she gave us some suggestions.

One of the Mexican Restaurants on the list came highly recommended, so we opted to go there. We’d all had a long day. We weren’t used to all the driving, and the smell of the hot springs was taking its toll on some of us (okay, me…), and Claire hadn’t had a nap.

Naps are few and far between these days, but when she really needs one, she takes one. Unfortunately, today, she’d needed one but hadn’t had the chance, what with all the excitement.

We get to the car, and we get her strapped in her car seat. As we pull out of the parking lot and down the street, she gets quiet. We go a few blocks, and she’s asleep. By the time we got to the restaurant, she was completely out.

“What should we do?” my hubby asks me. “Keep driving? Go in?”

“Eh, let’s just go in. You’re hungry. I’m hungry. She’s got to be hungry, and if we do this right, she’ll be okay when she wakes up.”

He turns off the car, and gets her car seat buckles undone. He carefully gets her out of the car seat, and we head into the restaurant.

She’s still not awake, her sleepy head resting on his shoulder.

The host shows us to a booth. It’s one of those C-shaped, half-circle booths, and Daddy gently lays Claire down on one side. He and I scootch around and sit on the other side.

She is out.
Completely out.

The waiter stops by and takes our drink orders. It feels good to sit in the booth, sipping our drinks. We figure out what we want to order, and we chat. It’s like we’re on a date. We’re not interrupted. We can finish a thought. We don’t have to pay a babysitter, because our child is right there…asleep on the bench.

We order food for her, because if she doesn’t wake up, we can just get it to go and have it at the hotel. And, if she does wake up, she’ll be hungry.

The food arrives, and she’s still asleep.

We have the most leisurely meal we’ve had in a long time. We laugh and talk, and we can’t believe she’s still sleeping. The restaurant isn’t overly quiet, and it’s not too loud.

This is awesome!

It wasn’t until we were halfway through our meal that my hubby realized that we were in the perfect booth for the occasion. On the wall behind us was the painting of a sleeping maiden. She’s being serenaded by her sweetheart, and her eyes are closed. In one corner of the booth was a figurine of a little boy…who was asleep. In the opposite corner, was the statue of a little girl, also sleeping.

We were in the sleeping booth!

The irony of the situation made us laugh even harder, and she still didn’t wake up!

When we were finished with our meal, I boxed Claire’s food up for later. The milk the waiter had brought to the table for Claire was already in a travel cup, so we were good to go. My hubby picked up Claire and we said our goodbyes to the sleeping booth. Claire didn’t wake up until we were back at the hotel!

Needless to say, she was very confused as to where the milk and quesadillas had come from. We tried to explain to her that she’d slept through the whole thing, but she didn’t believe it.

We could hardly believe it either, and we’d seen it with our own eyes!