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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 Firma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Firma 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 Firma:
- 38.889218, -90.675957
- 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 Firma
- 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 Saint Charles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Charles County
- Since Firma is near Calhoun County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Firma
Curious and Interesting Names Near Firma ...
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.
- All Saints Village
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- All Saints Village is located in Saint Charles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for All Saints Village
- Centerville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Centerville is located in Calhoun County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Chain-of-Rocks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Chain-of-Rocks is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chain-of-Rocks
- Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
- Deer Plain
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Deer Plain is located in Calhoun County (IL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Plain
- Golden Eagle
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Highview ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Highview is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highview
- Josephville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Josephville is located in Saint Charles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 485 people
- Kampville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Kampville is located in Saint Charles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kampville
- Maryknoll
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Maryknoll is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryknoll
- Seeburger
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Seeburger is located in Saint Charles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seeburger
How Far From Firma 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 Firma to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Firma and extending to:
- Saint Charles, which is the Seat of Saint Charles County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Firma to Saint Charles, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 83 miles [133.6 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 732 miles [1,178 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 29 days and walking would take 42 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,441 miles [10,365.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,178 miles [11,551.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,059 miles [8,141.7 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Firma) 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 Firma 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 Firma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8892, Longitude: -90.6760 In this case, the coordinates for Firma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.397 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.164 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.815 degrees. |
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