Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ossia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ossia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ossia
- 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 Ossia:
- 38.588986, -81.026775
- 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 Ossia
- 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 Clay County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Clay County
- Since Ossia is near Roane County and also Braxton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Roane County
- eBird sighting report for Braxton 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ossia ...
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.
- Dink
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Duck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Floe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Frame Knob ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frame Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frame Knob
- Frame Knob is located in Clay County
- Groves
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Ira
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Ivydale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Kidtown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Little Italy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Italy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
- Little Italy is located in Clay County
- Lydia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Mudfork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mudfork
- Mudfork is located in Calhoun County
How Far From Ossia to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ossia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ossia and extending to:
- Clay, which is the Seat of Clay County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ossia to Clay, with an average speed<3> 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.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 36 miles [57.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 215 miles [346 km] to the east (E). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,078 miles [9,781.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,791 miles [10,929.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,667 miles [7,510.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ossia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ossia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ossia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5890, Longitude: -81.0268 In this case, the coordinates for Ossia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Ossia to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.288 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.123 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.524 degrees. |