Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Avena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Avena and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Avena
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Avena:
- 39.007545, -88.927839
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Avena
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Avena is near Effingham County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Effingham County
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Avena ...
We found three communities that share the name Avena.
Within Illinois, the name Avena is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Inyo County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in Inyo County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Inyo County community of Avena.
- San Joaquin County
- This Avena is located in San Joaquin County and lies 1,731 miles [2,785.8 km]<2> to the west of the Avena that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Joaquin County community of Avena.
- Kentucky
- California
Curious and Interesting Names Near Avena ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Bluff City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluff City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff City
- Bluff City is located in Fayette County
- Confidence
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Confidence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confidence
- Confidence is located in Fayette County
- Howards Point ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howards Point have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howards Point
- Howards Point is located in Fayette County
- Loogootee
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loogootee have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loogootee
- Loogootee is located in Fayette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loogootee <5>
- Magnolia Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magnolia Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Corner
- Magnolia Corner is located in Fayette County
- Pinhook ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Post Oak
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Twin Churches
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Churches have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Churches
- Twin Churches is located in Fayette County
How Far From Avena to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Avena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Avena and extending to:
- Vandalia, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Avena to Vandalia, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 638 miles [1,026.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,370 miles [10,251.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,103 miles [11,431.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,983 miles [8,019.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Avena. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Avena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Avena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Avena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0075, Longitude: -88.9278 In this case, the coordinates for Avena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Avena could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <7> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Avena to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.255 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.866 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.962 degrees. |