RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Ida County >> Galva >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Galva, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Galva 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 Galva:
    • 42.505519, -95.417248
    • 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 Galva
  • 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 Ida County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ida County
    • Since Galva is near Sac County and also Buena Vista County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sac County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buena Vista 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 Galva

Communities Also Named Galva ...

We found four communities that are also named Galva.

Within Iowa, the name Galva is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Henry County
      • This Galva is located in Henry County and lies 291 miles [468.3 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Galva that is located in Ida County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henry County community of Galva.
    • Kansas
      • McPherson County
      • This Galva is located in McPherson County and lies 305 miles [490.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Galva that is located in Ida County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McPherson County community of Galva.
    • Louisiana
      • Saint John the Baptist Parish
      • This Galva is located in Saint John the Baptist Parish and lies 888 miles [1,429.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Galva that is located in Ida County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint John the Baptist Parish community of Galva.
    • Nebraska
      • Platte County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Platte County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Platte County community of Galva.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Galva ...

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 Galva 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 city such as Galva to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ida Grove, which is the Seat of Ida County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Galva to Ida Grove, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 111 miles [178.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 991 miles [1,594.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 57 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,422 miles [10,335.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,175 miles [11,547 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,079 miles [8,173.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Galva) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Galva, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Galva 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 Galva. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5055, Longitude: -95.4172    
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.772 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.524 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.393 degrees.