Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Gardena, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gardena and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Gardena
- 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 Gardena:
- 40.637534, -89.507846
- 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 Gardena
- 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 Tazewell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
- Since Gardena is near Peoria County and also Woodford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Peoria County
- eBird sighting report for Woodford 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
Communities Also Named Gardena ...
We found five communities that share the name Gardena.
Within Illinois, the name Gardena is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Florida
- Idaho
- North Dakota
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gardena ...
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.
- Cloverdale
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Tazewell County
- Cooper
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
- Cooper is located in Tazewell County
- Farmdale
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Groveland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groveland
- Groveland is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groveland <4>
- Harvard Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard Hills
- Harvard Hills is located in Tazewell County
- Highway Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highway Village
- Highway Village is located in Tazewell County
- Sunnyland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunnyland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyland
- Sunnyland is located in Tazewell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sunnyland <4>
How Far From Gardena 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 Gardena to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Gardena and extending to:
- Pekin, which is the Seat of Tazewell County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 59 miles [95 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could walk a straight line from Gardena to Springfield, with an average speed<5> 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 about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 672 miles [1,081.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,312 miles [10,158.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,051 miles [11,347.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,934 miles [7,940.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Gardena. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Tazewell County: www.tazewell.com/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Gardena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gardena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.6375, Longitude: -89.5078 |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Gardena could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Gardena to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.673 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.572 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.828 degrees. |