Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Christmas, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Christmas and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Christmas
- 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 Christmas:
- 46.436887, -86.701547
- 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 Christmas
- 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 Alger County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Alger County
- Since Christmas is near Schoolcraft County and also Marquette County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Schoolcraft County
- eBird sighting report for Marquette 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 Christmas ...
We found four communities that share the name Christmas.
Within Michigan, the name Christmas is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
Curious and Interesting Names Near Christmas ...
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.
- Evelyn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Forest Lake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Lake
- Forest Lake is located in Alger County
- Indian Town
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Town
- Indian Town is located in Alger County
- Juniper
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Rock River
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock River
- Rock River is located in Alger County
- Slapneck ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Vail
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Williams Landing
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Williams Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Landing
- Williams Landing is located in Alger County
How Far From Christmas 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 Christmas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Christmas and extending to:
- Munising, which is the Seat of Alger County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 276 miles [444.2 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Christmas to Lansing, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 714 miles [1,149.1 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,930 miles [9,543.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,679 miles [10,748.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,576 miles [7,364.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Christmas. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Christmas, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Christmas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Christmas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.4369, Longitude: -86.7015 In this case, the coordinates for Christmas have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Christmas 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 313.674 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.128 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.618 degrees. |