Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ray, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ray and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ray
- 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 Ray:
- 38.174677, -98.967532
- 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 Ray
- 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 Pawnee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pawnee County
- Since Ray is near Stafford County and also Barton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Stafford County
- eBird sighting report for Barton 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
Communities Also Named Ray ...
We found 26 communities that share the name Ray.
There is one other community in Kansas which is also named Ray.
Beyond Kansas, we know of another 25 communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Kansas ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Baldwin County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Ray [Baldwin County].
- Coosa County
- This Ray is located in Coosa County and lies 812 miles [1,306.8 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Ray that is located in Pawnee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Coosa County community of Ray.
- Arizona
- Florida
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Carroll County
- This Ray is located in Carroll County and lies 682 miles [1,097.6 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ray that is located in Pawnee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Carroll County community of Ray.
- Steuben County
- This Ray is located in Steuben County and lies 784 miles [1,261.7 km] to the east northeast of the Ray that is located in Pawnee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Steuben County community of Ray.
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Lawrence County
- This Ray is located in Lawrence County and lies 885 miles [1,424.3 km]<2> to the east of the Ray that is located in Pawnee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lawrence County community of Ray.
- Logan County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Ray [Logan County].
- Michigan
- Branch County
- This Ray is located in Branch County and lies 784 miles [1,261.7 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Ray that is located in Pawnee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Branch County community of Ray.
- Newaygo County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Ray [Newaygo County].
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- Nye County
- This community is historic<3> and although located in Nye County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nye County community of Ray.
- White Pine County
- This community is historic and although located in White Pine County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the White Pine County community of Ray.
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Ellis County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Ray [Ellis County].
- Grayson County
- This Ray is located in Grayson County and lies 329 miles [529.5 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Ray that is located in Pawnee County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grayson County community of Ray.
- Virginia
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ray ...
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.
- Anchorway
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorway
- Anchorway is located in Barton County
- Bison
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest) - Dundee
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundee
- Dundee is located in Barton County
- Great Bend
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Bend
- Great Bend is located in Barton County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,901 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Great Bend <5>
- Hopewell ‑ Historic
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south) - Lewis
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewis have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
- Lewis is located in Edwards County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 407 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewis <5>
- Macksville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macksville
- Macksville is located in Stafford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 518 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Macksville <5>
- Radium
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Radium
- Radium is located in Stafford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
- Rush Center
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rush Center have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Center
- Rush Center is located in Rush County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 152 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rush Center <5>
How Far From Ray 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 Ray to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Ray once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Ray and extending to:
- Larned, which is the Seat of Pawnee County, lies just to the West.
- Topeka, which is the State Capital of Kansas, lies 187 miles [300.9 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Ray to Topeka, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,182 miles [1,902.2 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 68 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,771 miles [10,896.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,523 miles [12,107.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,421 miles [8,724.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Kansas: https://portal.kansas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Ray could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <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- Ray) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.1747, Longitude: -98.9675 |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Ray, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Ray to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 322.011 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.577 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.007 degrees. |