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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 Ratcliff Ford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ratcliff Ford 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 Ratcliff Ford:
- 37.056164, -91.684310
- 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 Ratcliff Ford
- 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 Texas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Texas County
- Since Ratcliff Ford is near Shannon County and also Howell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Shannon County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Howell 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 Ratcliff Ford
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ratcliff Ford ...
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.
- Birch Tree
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Chapel
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Chapel is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel
- Congo ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Congo is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Congo
- Guild
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Guild is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guild
- Mountain View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Not
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Not is located in Shannon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Not
- Peace Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Peace Valley is located in Howell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peace Valley
- Pine Crest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Pine Crest is located in Texas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
- Summersville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
How Far From Ratcliff Ford 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 Ratcliff Ford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ratcliff Ford and extending to:
- Houston, which is the Seat of Texas County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ratcliff Ford to Houston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 108 miles [173.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 806 miles [1,297.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 46 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,571 miles [10,575 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,305 miles [11,756.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,184 miles [8,342.8 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- Ratcliff Ford) 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 Ratcliff Ford 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 Ratcliff Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0562, Longitude: -91.6843 In this case, the coordinates for Ratcliff Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.968 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.575 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.677 degrees. |
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