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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 Gerlaw, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gerlaw 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 Gerlaw:
- 40.986982, -90.601802
- 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 Gerlaw
- 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 Warren County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Warren County
- Since Gerlaw is near Mercer County and also Knox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Knox 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 Gerlaw
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gerlaw ...
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.
- Alexis
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Coldbrook
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Coldbrook is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldbrook
- Denny ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Denny is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denny
- Eleanor
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Eleanor is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eleanor
- Little York
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Shanghai City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Shanghai City is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanghai City
- Spring Grove ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Spring Grove is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Utah
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Utah is located in Warren County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Utah
How Far From Gerlaw to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Gerlaw to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Gerlaw and extending to:
- Monmouth, which is the Seat of Warren County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Gerlaw to Springfield, 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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 731 miles [1,176.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,334 miles [10,193.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,076 miles [11,387.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,962 miles [7,985.6 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' (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- Gerlaw) 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 Gerlaw 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 Gerlaw. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9870, Longitude: -90.6018 In this case, the coordinates for Gerlaw have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.411 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.466 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.278 degrees. |
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