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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 Minonk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Minonk 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 Minonk:
- 40.903068, -89.033951
- 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 Minonk
- 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 Woodford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Woodford County
- Since Minonk is near La Salle County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Minonk
Curious and Interesting Names Near Minonk ...
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.
- Dana
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Evans ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Long Point
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Low Point
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Low Point is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Point
- Munster
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Porterfield
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Porterfield is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porterfield
- Reading
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Reading is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
- Rutland
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Spires
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Spires is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spires
- Waldo
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Waldo is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldo
How Far From Minonk 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 city such as Minonk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Minonk and extending to:
- Eureka, which is the Seat of Woodford County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Minonk to Eureka, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 83 miles [133.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 649 miles [1,044.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,281 miles [10,108.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,020 miles [11,297.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,903 miles [7,890.6 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Minonk) 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 Minonk 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 Minonk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9031, Longitude: -89.0340 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.362 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.253 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.527 degrees. |
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