Shared Adventures begin here

INspiring road trips by telling people where to go. Sharing America’s story. It’s what we do.

Welcome to Jim Hinckley’s America –

The great American road trip. Route 66. Ghost towns and big cities. A search for roadside diners that still serve fresh apple pie. Fascinating people. Inspirational people. Natural wonders and historic sites.

Jim Hinckley’s America is built on a sixty year association with Route 66, two lane highways, and colorful characters.

That allows me to provide a unique perspective when sharing travel tips, historical insights, and inspiring stories. And it ensures that we will fuel your wanderlust and help you plan your next memory making great American adventure.

Don’t miss out on the latest updates, travel tips, and exclusive content. Subscribe and join our community of road trip enthusiasts and history buffs. Let’s explore America’s remarkable story together, one mile at a time.

Jim Hinckley’s America is your passport to great American road trip adventures.

A bronze statue of a cowboy in a hat stands beside a man preparing to unveil it, surrounded by trees and a historic building.
Kingman Tours, a journey through time, was introduced with the unveiling of the Jim Hinckley statue during National Road Trip Day celebrations in 2022. ©Jim Hinckley’s America

  • In Search of Boston Friedel

    My world is always full of surprising twists and turns but I never imagined that a Saturday morning would be spent in search of Boston Friedel. This particular quest actually started several months ago. The owners of this distinctive stone building along Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona were working to unravel its mysterious past. Since…

    Read more

  • Planes, Trains, Route 66 and St. Louis

    Planes, trains, Route 66 and St. Louis were the topics of conversation with author and historian Joe Sonderman on the August 6, 2023 episode of Coffee With Jim. The program definitely provided me with added incentive to explore St. Louis during the Jim Hinckley’s America fall tour. With the exception of Tulsa, Oklahoma the treasures…

    Read more

  • The Torch Passes

    As the Route 66 centennial approaches, the torch passes to a new generation. Many of the leaders in the preservation, the promotion and the development of Route 66 as an attraction for future generations were born after the highway was fully bypassed in October 1984. As these passionate young visionaries take the stage, many of…

    Read more

  • The Angel of Route 66

    The Angel of Route 66. That is a fitting moniker for the small town barber that transformed his home town, sparked a renaissance movement that transformed communities from Chicago to Santa Monica, and that has done it all with a smile, with passion, and with an honest desire to inspire by sharing an epic American…

    Read more

  • The Route 66 Centennial

    In 2026 the Route 66 centennial will spark the largest block party in American history. In preperation of this mega event the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield is about to unveil the Route 66 Experience that was developed in partnership with Ace Sign Company. This will be the cornerstone for the city’s expansive Route 66…

    Read more

  • Conrad Shenfield: An Entrepreneurial Tale

    Subjugation of the Hualapai people followed a brief war in the late 1860s. And as a result, over the course of the next twenty years the northwest corner of the Arizona territory was inundated with a veritable flood of prospectors, ranchers, miners, investors, crooks, grifters, and outlaws. They poured into the area over the Beale…

    Read more

  • On The Shoulders of Giants

    February 18, 1987. In the grand scheme of things that date isn’t as momentous as June 6, 1944 or July 4, 1776. Still, on that cold February day a group of passionate and frustrated visionaries met at the Copper Cart restaurant in Seligman, Arizona. I don’t think that the people attending that meeting had any…

    Read more

  • Casting A Long Shadow

    The towering old stone hotel has been casting a long shadow in the historic heart of Kingman, Arizona since 1909. It is a tangible link to Arizona territorial history, a nearly forgotten chapter in Ford family history, and even with famous Hollywood celebrities. John Mulligan arrived in northwest Arizona in the 1870s, about the same…

    Read more

  • Bob Waldmire, Route 66, and A Desert Crossroads

    The holiday weekend has been dominated by thoughts about Bob Waldmire, Route 66 and life in a desert crossroads. This deep thinking was sparked by a host that posed questions about Bob Waldmire’s association with Kingman. And then she expressed surprise that given Waldmire’s fame, especially in the Route 66 community, this mural wasn’t heavily…

    Read more

  • A Fellow Named Ed

    Scattered machinery and assorted rusty junk of indeterminate age baking under a blazing Arizona sun. The forlorn remnants of a long abandoned store, cafe, gas station, and tourist cabins. The skeletal remains of an Oldsmobile driven from Michigan shortly after WWI. A scattering of modern trailer homes framed by an arch adorned with LM. And…

    Read more

  • Welcome to Geezerhood

    Years ago, when a young man or young woman couldn’t afford college, they were often told that the world needed ditch diggers. That, however, is one of many things that has changed in recent years. The ditch digger is being replaced by machines, and even robotic ones that are controlled from an air conditioned office.…

    Read more

  • Evolution of The American Experience

    On June 19, 1865, 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. With their arrival came announcement that by executive decree all enslaved back people in the state of Texas were now free. It was another milestone in our national quest to manifest the lofty goals enshrined within the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these…

    Read more

Latest Posts
Latest Comments

  3. I think these developments are a big deterrent for foreigners visiting the US. It is sad that the anniversaries of…

Subscribe To The Blog