Oak Park Motel

I have terrific memories of this motel when my mom's brother, my uncle Jim, came out to visit us from Denver back in the early '70s.  Tom and Mike, Jim's sons and my cousins, came with him.  We went over to the motel to hang out and play in the pool.  That whole family was athletic.  Jim's sons were college and professional football and basketball players.  Jim was tall.  His wife, Helen, was tall.  Their sons and daughters were tall.  So Tom was athletic.  While one of the sons played for the Dallas Cowboys in its earlier years, another son played college basketball for the University of Colorado.  Hearing that gave me dreams.  It's like it gave me permission to be a star athlete.  Boy, did I disappoint.  Tom taught us how to walk on the bottom of the pool by expelling all of the breath and allowing the body to perform a controlled sink to the bottom and then walk on the pool's floor at the deep end of the pool.  It was a great memory.  Back in the days, there was a terrific arcade next to the motel with miniature golf, trampolines, an arcade with all kinds of video games, a giant slide, and a bumper cars lot.  It was great fun with my cousins.  I will always remember my uncle Jim.