RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Plumas County >> Twain >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Twain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Twain and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Twain:
    • 40.020528, -121.071863
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Twain
  • 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 Plumas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Plumas County
    • Since Twain is near Lassen County and also Butte County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lassen County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Butte 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Twain

Communities Also Named Twain ...

We found one communities that are also named Twain.

Within California, the name Twain is unique.

Beyond California, there is another community also named Twain in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Nevada
      • Pershing County
      • This Twain is located in Pershing County and lies 153 miles [246.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Twain that is located in Plumas County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pershing County community of Twain.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Twain ...

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.

How Far From Twain 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 Twain to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Twain and extending to:

  • Quincy, which is the Seat of Plumas County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 101 miles [162.5 km]<1> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Twain to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,324 miles [3,740.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,244 miles [11,658.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,011 miles [12,892.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,068 miles [9,765.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Twain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Twain to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Twain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.0205, Longitude: -121.0719    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.298 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.183 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.315 degrees.