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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Diagonal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Diagonal 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 Diagonal:
- 40.809363, -94.340845
- 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 Diagonal
- 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 Ringgold County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Ringgold County
- Since Diagonal is near Taylor County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Taylor County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Union 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 Diagonal
Curious and Interesting Names Near Diagonal ...
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.
- Bushville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Bushville is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushville
- Grand River
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Grand River is located in Decatur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand River
- Population from the 2020 Census: 215 people
- Gravity
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Hopeville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Kent
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lee ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Lee is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
- Marshall ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Marshall is located in Ringgold County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshall
- Merle Junction
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Merle Junction is located in Taylor County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merle Junction
- Stringtown
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Stringtown is located in Adams County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
- Tingley
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
How Far From Diagonal to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Diagonal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Diagonal and extending to:
- Mount Ayr, which is the Seat of Ringgold County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 66 miles [106.2 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Diagonal to Des Moines, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 925 miles [1,488.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 53 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,474 miles [10,418.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,223 miles [11,624.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,117 miles [8,235 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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 from Point A (ie- Diagonal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Diagonal 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 Diagonal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8094, Longitude: -94.3408 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.955 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.365 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.198 degrees. |
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