Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blanford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blanford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blanford
- 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 Blanford:
- 39.667282, -87.520716
- 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 Blanford
- 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 Vermillion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Vermillion County
- Since Blanford is near Edgar County and also Vigo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Edgar County
- eBird sighting report for Vigo 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 Blanford ...
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.
- Bono
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Clays Prairie
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clays Prairie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clays Prairie
- Clays Prairie is located in Edgar County (IL)
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Clays Prairie
- From Blanford to Clays Prairie
- Easytown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Jonestown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Kentucky
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kentucky. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentucky
- Kentucky is located in Edgar County (IL)
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Kentucky
- From Blanford to Kentucky
- Libertyville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libertyville
- Libertyville is located in Vigo County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Libertyville
- From Blanford to Libertyville
- Needmore
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Pine Ridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Pine Ridge is located in Vigo County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pine Ridge
- From Blanford to Pine Ridge
- Randall
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Sandytown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandytown
- Sandytown is located in Vermillion County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Sandytown
- From Blanford to Sandytown
- Summit Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Grove
- Summit Grove is located in Vermillion County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Summit Grove
- From Blanford to Summit Grove
- Syndicate
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Universal
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Blanford 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 Blanford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Blanford and extending to:
- Newport, which is the Seat of Vermillion County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<3> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Blanford to Newport, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the east (E). 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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 562 miles [904.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 22 days and walking would take 32 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,285 miles [10,114.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,017 miles [11,292.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,896 miles [7,879.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blanford. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Indiana: https://www.in.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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blanford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blanford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6673, Longitude: -87.5207 |
| <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 Blanford 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 314.354 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.926 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.131 degrees. |