Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ovia, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ovia and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ovia
- 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 Ovia:
- 40.855003, -93.317711
- 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 Ovia
- 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 Wayne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wayne County
- Since Ovia is near Lucas County and also Decatur County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lucas County
- eBird sighting report for Decatur 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 Ovia ...
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.
- Bethelhem
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Confidence
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Confidence
- Confidence is located in Wayne County
- Derby
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Garden Grove
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Grove
- Garden Grove is located in Decatur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Harvard
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south) - High Point
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
- High Point is located in Decatur County
- Hodge
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south) - Last Chance
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Last Chance have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Last Chance
- Last Chance is located in Lucas County
- Le Roy
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west) - Lucas
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest) - Promise City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Promise City
- Promise City is located in Wayne County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
- Zero
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Ovia 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 Ovia to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Ovia and extending to:
- Corydon, which is the Seat of Wayne County, lies just to the South.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 53 miles [85.3 km]<3> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Ovia to Des Moines, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 871 miles [1,401.7 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 34 days and walking would take 50 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,437 miles [10,359.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,183 miles [11,559.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,075 miles [8,167.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ovia. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- Ovia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ovia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8550, Longitude: -93.3177 In this case, the coordinates for Ovia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Ovia to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.252 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.562 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.669 degrees. |