Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lerna, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lerna and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lerna
- 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 Lerna:
- 39.417885, -88.288784
- 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 Lerna
- 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 Coles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Coles County
- Since Lerna is near Cumberland County and also Moultrie County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cumberland County
- eBird sighting report for Moultrie 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 Lerna ...
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.
- Halls Ford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halls Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Ford
- Halls Ford is located in Coles County
- Janesville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Janesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janesville
- Janesville is located in Cumberland County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Janesville <2>
- Johnstown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnstown
- Johnstown is located in Cumberland County
- Jones
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Magnet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnet
- Magnet is located in Coles County
- Neal
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Paradise
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Rocky Ford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
- Rocky Ford is located in Cumberland County
- Rolling Green
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Green have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Green
- Rolling Green is located in Coles County
How Far From Lerna 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 village such as Lerna to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Lerna and extending to:
- Charleston, which is the Seat of Coles County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<3> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Lerna to Springfield, with an average speed<4>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 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 603 miles [970.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,326 miles [10,180.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,059 miles [11,360.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,938 miles [7,946.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lerna. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Coles County: www.co.coles.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Lerna) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lerna. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4179, Longitude: -88.2888 In this case, the coordinates for Lerna 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 Lerna 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 314.849 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.457 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.558 degrees. |