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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 Eldena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Eldena 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 Eldena:
- 41.771144, -89.410099
- 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 Eldena
- 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
- Since Eldena is near Ogle County and also Whiteside County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Ogle County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Whiteside 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 Eldena
Curious and Interesting Names Near Eldena ...
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.
- Amboy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Grand Detour
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Inlet
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Inlet is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inlet
- Kingdom
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Kingdom is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingdom
- Lee Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Lincoln Heights
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lincoln Heights is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Heights
- Lost Nation
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Lost Nation is located in Ogle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Nation
- Maytown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Maytown is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maytown
- Nelson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Woodland Shores
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Woodland Shores is located in Lee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Shores
How Far From Eldena 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 community such as Eldena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Eldena and extending to:
- Dixon, which is the Seat of Lee County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 137 miles [220.5 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Eldena to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 680 miles [1,094.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,252 miles [10,061.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,994 miles [11,255.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,880 miles [7,853.6 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 '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- Eldena) 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 Eldena 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 Eldena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7711, Longitude: -89.4101 In this case, the coordinates for Eldena have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.622 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.67 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.481 degrees. |
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