RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oregon >> Sherman County >> Wasco >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wasco, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wasco 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 Wasco:
    • 45.591801, -120.697766
    • 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 Wasco
  • 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 Sherman County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sherman County
    • Since Wasco is near Klickitat County and also Wasco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Klickitat County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wasco 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 Wasco

Communities Also Named Wasco ...

We found two communities that are also named Wasco.

Within Oregon, the name Wasco is unique.

Beyond Oregon, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Kern County
      • This Wasco is located in Kern County and lies 693 miles [1,115.3 km]<1> to the south of the Wasco that is located in Sherman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kern County community of Wasco.
    • Illinois
      • Kane County
      • This Wasco is located in Kane County and lies 1,618 miles [2,603.9 km]<1> to the east of the Wasco that is located in Sherman County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kane County community of Wasco.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wasco ...

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 Wasco 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 city such as Wasco to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Moro, which is the Seat of Sherman County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Salem, which is the State Capital of Oregon, lies 121 miles [194.7 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Wasco to Salem, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,250 miles [3,621 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 128 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,878 miles [11,069.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,642 miles [12,298.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,735 miles [9,229.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Wasco) 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 Wasco 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 Wasco. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.5918, Longitude: -120.6978    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.415 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.624 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.838 degrees.