RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Carroll County >> Olde Washington Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Olde Washington Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Olde Washington Valley and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for Olde Washington Valley
  • 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 Olde Washington Valley:
    • 39.461491, -77.010259
    • 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 Olde Washington Valley
  • 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 Carroll County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Since Olde Washington Valley is near Frederick County and also Baltimore County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore 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 Olde Washington Valley

Curious and Interesting Names Near Olde Washington Valley ...

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.

  • Airport Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Airport Acres is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Acres
  • Bird Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Bird Hill is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bird Hill
  • Bloom
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Bloom is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloom
  • Daniel
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Daniel is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniel
  • Deep Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Deep Valley is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Valley
  • Fieldcrest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Fieldcrest is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldcrest
  • Gist
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Gist is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gist
  • Heritage
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Heritage is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage
  • Huntfield
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Huntfield is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntfield
  • Irongate
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Irongate is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irongate
  • Lynn Lee
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Lynn Lee is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Lee
  • Maple Haven
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Maple Haven is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Haven
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Presidential Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Presidential Park is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Presidential Park
    • Red Fox Meadow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Red Fox Meadow is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Fox Meadow
    • Stone House Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Stone House Village is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone House Village
    • Sunset Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Sunset Hill is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hill

How Far From Olde Washington Valley 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 Olde Washington Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Olde Washington Valley and extending to:

  • Westminster, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies just to the North.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 43 miles [69.2 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Olde Washington Valley to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 38 miles [61.2 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,872 miles [9,450.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,580 miles [10,589.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,456 miles [7,171.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Olde Washington Valley) 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 Olde Washington Valley 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 Olde Washington Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4615, Longitude: -77.0103       In this case, the coordinates for Olde Washington Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.837 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.466 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.484 degrees.