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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 Rands, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rands 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 Rands:
- 42.325029, -94.578811
- 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 Rands
- 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 Calhoun County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Since Rands is near Greene County and also Webster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Webster 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 Rands
Communities Also Named Rands ...
We found two communities that are also named Rands.
Within Iowa, the name Rands is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Idaho
- Camas County
- This Rands is located in Camas County and lies 1,016 miles [1,635.1 km]<1> to the west of the Rands that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Camas County community of Rands.
- Maine
- Aroostook County
- This Rands is located in Aroostook County and lies 1,334 miles [2,146.9 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Rands that is located in Calhoun County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Aroostook County community of Rands.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rands ...
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.
- Clare
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Clare is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clare
- Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
- Hart
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Hart is located in Sac County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hart
- Jolley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Lake City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lena
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lena is located in Webster County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
- Lizard ‑ Historic
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lizard is located in Pocahontas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lizard
- Moorland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Palm Grove
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Piper
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Piper is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piper
- Richard
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Richard is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richard
- Sac City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Twin Lakes
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
How Far From Rands 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 Rands to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rands and extending to:
- Rockwell City, which is the Seat of Calhoun County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 70 miles [112.7 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Rands to Des Moines, 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 three full days. 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 947 miles [1,524 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 37 days and walking would take 54 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,403 miles [10,304.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,155 miles [11,514.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,056 miles [8,136.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rands) 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 Rands 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 Rands. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3250, Longitude: -94.5788 In this case, the coordinates for Rands have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.177 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.817 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.991 degrees. |
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