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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 Ocoya, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ocoya 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 Ocoya:
- 40.805034, -88.683952
- 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 Ocoya
- 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 Livingston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Livingston County
- Since Ocoya is near McLean County and also Woodford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for McLean County
- Open the 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Ocoya
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ocoya ...
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.
- Clarksville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Clarksville is located in McLean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
- Meadows
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Meadows is located in McLean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadows
- Pleasant Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Hill is located in McLean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Rooks Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rooks Creek is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rooks Creek
- Rugby
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Rugby is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rugby
- Spires
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Spires is located in Woodford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spires
- Timber Ridge
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Timber Ridge is located in McLean County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
- Waldo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Waldo is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldo
- Wing
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Wing is located in Livingston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wing
How Far From Ocoya 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 Ocoya to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Ocoya and extending to:
- Pontiac, which is the Seat of Livingston County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 87 miles [140 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Ocoya to Springfield, with an average speed<2>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 630 miles [1,013.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,273 miles [10,095.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,011 miles [11,283.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,893 miles [7,874.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ocoya) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Ocoya 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 Ocoya. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.8050, Longitude: -88.6840 In this case, the coordinates for Ocoya have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.129 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.972 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.383 degrees. |
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