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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 Ruma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ruma 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 Ruma:
- 38.133152, -89.997987
- 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 Ruma
- 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since Ruma is near Monroe County and also Sainte Genevieve County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Sainte Genevieve 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 Ruma
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ruma ...
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.
- Diamond Cross
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Diamond Cross is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Cross
- Hecker
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Ivy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Ivy is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy
- Kellogg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Kellogg is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogg
- Little Rock Landing ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Marigold
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Marigold is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marigold
- Needmore
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- New Bourbon
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- New Bourbon is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bourbon
- Prairie
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Prairie is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie
- Red Bud
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Roots
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Roots is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roots
How Far From Ruma to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Ruma to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ruma and extending to:
- Chester, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Ruma to Chester, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of 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 115 miles [185.1 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 701 miles [1,128.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,454 miles [10,386.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,187 miles [11,566.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,066 miles [8,152.9 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ruma) 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 Ruma 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 Ruma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1332, Longitude: -89.9980 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.922 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.513 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.668 degrees. |
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