Coffee With Jim

The Fourth of July is a holiday that allows the nation to consider our past without being stuck there. And it is an opportunity to look forward without forgetting where it came from.

Yes, it is fireworks, family, friends, music and barbecues. And yes, it is a time for reflection. Our nation's founders did not leave us with a finished product when they signed the Declaration of Independence or replaced the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution and Bill of Rights. They left us a framework, a challenge, and a goal to pursue. That has been the message shared by presidents for more than 200 years.

The history of Fourth of July celebrations is one of the most fascinating chapters in America's story. And sharing America's story is what we do at Jim Hinckley's America.  We do this with support from listeners through Patreon. We also do this with support from the folks at Roadrunner Lodge Motel, Two Lane America, RouteTrip USA, Deana Nelson State Farm Insurance, Gilligan's Route 66 Tours, and Enchanted Trails Trading Post & RV Park. 

Burbank, California is a rare urban gem. It retains a mid century California vibe and a sense of identity even though it is surrounded by the largest megalopolis in the country. On today's episode Jim Hinckley shares tips for exploring the area, and takes the listener to 1950s time capsule diners and restaurants. And he also has found a delightful neon lit mid 1950s motel that is centrally located to just about everything!

Coffee With Jim and Jim Hinckley's America is sponsored by listeners through Patreon. It is also made possible by the support of the Roadrunner Lodge Motel, Two Lane America, Enchanted Trails Trading Post & RV Park, Deana Nelson State Farm Insurance, Gilligan's Route 66 Tours, and RouteTrip USA. 

Celebrating the American story is more than fireworks and festivals. The nation’s 250th anniversary is a time for reflecting on legacy, what it means to be an an American and the future. 

For President Gerald Ford the bicentennial was an unprecendented opportunity to heal and unite the country after the tumultuous years of Vietnam, the Watergate scandal and President Nixon’s unprecedented abuse of power, and a decade of assasinations and riots. He tasked his cabinet and challenged congress to use the bicentenial as a catalyst for uniting the country. Ford saw his loss to Jimmy Carter by a mere two percent as another opportunity to bring the nation together. 

That was an act that Carter, media, and members of congress later praised for healing the nation. This was in stark contrast the election of 1876 or 2020.

Coffee With Jim is made possible through the support of listeners on Patreon. It is also made possible by Gilligan's Route 66 Tours, Enchanted Trails Trading Post & RV Park, Deanna Nelson State Farm Insurance, Two Lane America, RouteTrip USA and Roadrunner Lodge Motel in Tucuncari, New Mexico. 

Not many people know that the cornerstone for the American auto industry, and the U.S. highway system, is the bicycle. And not many people know that Henry Ford played a role in the establishment of Cadillac, that a tsunami of manure was resolved with electric buses, or that David Buick made his firt fortune with plumbing innovation. 

So, that is where this book would begin, the origins of the auto industry. This is a new-old-idea keeps popping into my thoughts. Like a Model T Ford pushed into a back corner of the barn for decades, there are project ideas that are shelved until there is more time to transform them into a reality. That project is Bathtubs, Birdcages & Chevrolet. 

Coffee With Jim, the Podeban edition, is where we share chapters from America's amazing story. Coffee With Jim, the Sunday morning virtual diner where we gather to talk road trips, adventure, and historic preservation, 

Jim Hinckley's America is sponsored by listeners through Patreon. It is also made possible by Deana Nelson State Farm Insurance, Enchanted Trails Trading Post & RV Park, Roadrunner Lodge Motel, Two Lane America, RouteTrip USA, and Gilligan's Route 66 Tours.  

Dawn of a new era on Main Street. A renaissance movement is transforming towns large and small as grassroots initiatives restore vibrancy to historic business districts. Kingman, Arizona, my adopted hometown is an example of how a community can be transformed into a destination for visitors as well as for people looking for a place to open a business, to raise a family or to retire. 

Innovative projects and initiatives brought to fruition by the passionate volunteers at Kingman Main Street are a shining example of what can be accomplished with vision, with leadership, and with focus on building a sense of community and community purpose. The work of this organization and other grassroots initiatives serve as an excellent case study on how to restore an historic business district. 

Kingman Main Street - 

Kingman Tours - 

That didn't work. We were enjoying a delightful and inspiring conversation with Matt Wagner and Leslie Anne Eades that are working with Patrick O Connor and Margaret McMullan on a documentary about Joe Barr's attempt to set a non-stop cycling world record on Route 66. A brief internet outage brought the program to an abrupt end at the 29 minute mark. 

It was sort of like planning the ultimate road trip and then having the wheels fall of the bus at the end of the driveway. Still, the comments have been positive.

If you would like more information about Joe Barr's Route 66 adventure this link is for his website. Follow along on Instagram @joebarrroute66filmproject

Join us on Sunday mornings, 7:00 Arizona time for Coffee With Jim on the Jim Hinckley's America YouTube channel. 

Life after sixty slows down but the world seems to be moving faster. In this shared adventure author Jim Hinckley shares a milestone, and provides a darkly comedic update on his ongoing battle with tech. 

In this new series from Jim Hinckley's America, Jim will be sharing surprising chapters in the American story, and his thoughts about life lived in the shadow of turning seventy. It's a another shared adventure. 

Jim Hinckley's America is made possible through listeners support on Patreon. It is also sponsored by Enchanted Trails Trading Post & RV Park, Two Lane America, Roadrunner Lodge Motel, Gilligan's Route 66 Tours, RouteTrip USA, and Deana Nelson State Farm Insurance. 

At Jim Hinckley's America we inspire road trips by sharing our adventures. This week on Coffee With Jim we are asking folks to share tips from their adventures, help us inspire road trips, and join us in telling people where to go.

We have lots of your questions to answer, a few travel tips to share, books to recommend, and much, much more. Do you have a tip to share or travel question? Call in.

Share the adventure. Invite your friends. Let's talk road trips, the Route 66 centennial, tips about where to find the best pie, and the best places for weekend getaways.

Coffee With Jim is made possible thorugh listener support on Patreon. It is also sponsored by Deana Nelson State Farm Inclurance, Two Lane America, the Wagon Wheel Motel, RouteTrip USA, Roadrunner Lodge Motel, and Gilligan's Route 66 Tours.

It's the dawn of a new era at Jim Hinckley's America and we wanted to share some exciting, and a few darkly comedic, updates. On today's program:

On today’s episode of Coffee With Jim we visit with Professor Peter Dedek, author and professor of public history at Texas State University. Peter has a delightful new book, Hip To The Trip, Route 66 centennial edition that provides some interesting perspective on this storied old highway. Aside from a thorough dive into the history of the road and the evoution of its culture, this fully revised update of the classic first edition highlights how the renaissance has reshped Route 66.

Jim Hinckley’s America is a shared adventure. But like a good book, when one chapter ends another begins. The live stream Coffee With Jim podast on Podbean is coming to an end. In mid May the live stream option will no longer be available. Stay tuned for details but at this time it looks like we will be moving the program to our Substack hub or YouTube channel.