Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ava, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ava and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ava
- 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 Ava:
- 33.343170, -85.478009
- 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 Ava
- 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since Ava is near Clay County and also Cleburne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Clay County
- eBird sighting report for Cleburne 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 Ava ...
We found eight communities that share the name Ava.
Within Alabama, the name Ava is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Berrien County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Ava [Berrien County].
- Lowndes County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Ava [Lowndes County].
- Illinois
- Missouri
- New York
- Ohio
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ava ...
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.
- Cavers Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cavers Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavers Grove
- Cavers Grove is located in Randolph County
- Liberty Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Liberty Grove is located in Randolph County
- Mount Pleasant
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Randolph County
- Napoleon
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Peace
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Rockdale
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Rocky Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Branch
- Rocky Branch is located in Randolph County
- Swagg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Union
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
How Far From Ava 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 Ava to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ava and extending to:
- Wedowee, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies just to the South.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Ava to Montgomery, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 606 miles [975.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,504 miles [10,467.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,208 miles [11,600.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,086 miles [8,185.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ava. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Ava) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ava. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3432, Longitude: -85.4780 In this case, the coordinates for Ava have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Ava 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Ava to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.876 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.339 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.809 degrees. |