Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Improve, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Improve and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Improve
- 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 Improve:
- 31.342952, -89.700353
- 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 Improve
- 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 Marion County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Marion County
- Since Improve is near Lamar County and also Jefferson Davis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lamar County
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson Davis 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Improve ...
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.
- Ebenezer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Emmanuel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Expose
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west) - Good Hope
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Harmony
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Hickory Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Hickory Grove is located in Lamar County
- Hopewell
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Melba
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Rocky Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Branch
- Rocky Branch is located in Lamar County
How Far From Improve 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 Improve to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Improve and extending to:
- Columbia, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Improve to Columbia, 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.
- Jackson, which is the State Capital of Mississippi, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 883 miles [1,421.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 35 days and walking would take 51 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,777 miles [10,906.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,486 miles [12,047.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,363 miles [8,630.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Improve. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Mississippi: https://www.ms.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <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- Improve) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Improve. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3430, Longitude: -89.7004 In this case, the coordinates for Improve have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Improve to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.249 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.815 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.859 degrees. |