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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 Van Loon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Loon 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 Van Loon:
- 41.568369, -87.422817
- 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 Van Loon
- 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 Lake County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
- Since Van Loon is near Cook County and also Will County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cook County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Will 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 Van Loon
Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Loon ...
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.
- Black Oak
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Black Oak is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
- Gary
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gerry Park
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Gerry Park is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gerry Park
- Glen Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Glen Park is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Park
- Hartsdale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Hartsdale is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsdale
- Highland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Independence Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Independence Hill is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence Hill
- Indiana Harbor
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Indiana Harbor is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indiana Harbor
- Ivanhoe
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Ivanhoe is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
- Lincoln Village
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Lincoln Village is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Village
- Liverpool
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Liverpool is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liverpool
- Lottaville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lottaville is located in Lake County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lottaville
- Munster
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Turkey Creek Meadows
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Van Loon 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 community such as Van Loon to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Van Loon and extending to:
- Crown Point, which is the Seat of Lake County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Van Loon to Crown Point, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Indianapolis, which is the State Capital of Indiana, lies 140 miles [225.3 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 577 miles [928.6 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,189 miles [9,960.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,927 miles [11,147.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,809 miles [7,739.3 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 from Point A (ie- Van Loon) 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 Van Loon 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 Van Loon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5684, Longitude: -87.4228 In this case, the coordinates for Van Loon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.298 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.131 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.553 degrees. |
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