RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Michigan >> Ottawa County >> Bauer >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bauer, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bauer 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 Bauer:
    • 42.921539, -85.902583
    • 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 Bauer
  • 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 Ottawa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ottawa County
    • Since Bauer is near Kent County and also Allegan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Kent County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Allegan 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 Bauer

Communities Also Named Bauer ...

We found three communities that are also named Bauer.

Within Michigan, the name Bauer is unique.

Beyond Michigan, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Iowa
      • Marion County
      • This Bauer is located in Marion County and lies 397 miles [638.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Bauer that is located in Ottawa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Bauer.
    • Kentucky
      • McCreary County
      • This Bauer is located in McCreary County and lies 420 miles [675.9 km]<1> to the south of the Bauer that is located in Ottawa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the McCreary County community of Bauer.
    • Utah
      • Tooele County
      • This Bauer is located in Tooele County and lies 1,368 miles [2,201.6 km]<1> to the west of the Bauer that is located in Ottawa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tooele County community of Bauer.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bauer ...

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.

How Far From Bauer 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 Bauer to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bauer and extending to:

  • Grand Haven, which is the Seat of Ottawa County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Bauer to Grand Haven, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
  • Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 69 miles [111 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 about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 539 miles [867.4 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 21 days and walking would take 31 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,069 miles [9,767.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,807 miles [10,954.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,691 miles [7,549.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Bauer) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Bauer 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 Bauer. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9215, Longitude: -85.9026       In this case, the coordinates for Bauer have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.272 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.157 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.386 degrees.