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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 Alvan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alvan 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 Alvan:
- 40.146192, -78.149175
- 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 Alvan
- 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 Bedford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bedford County
- Since Alvan is near Huntingdon County and also Fulton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Huntingdon County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fulton 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 Alvan
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alvan ...
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.
- Coaldale
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Coaldale is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coaldale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
- Cooks
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Cooks is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks
- Defiance
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Defiance is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Defiance
- Gracey
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Gracey is located in Fulton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gracey
- Hickory Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Hickory Hill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
- Jerkwater
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jerkwater is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerkwater
- Marysville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Marysville is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marysville
- Riddlesburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Riddlesburg is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riddlesburg
- Round Knob
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Round Knob is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Knob
- Sandy Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Sandy Run is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Run
- Stone Row
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Stone Row is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Row
- Waterfall
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
How Far From Alvan to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Alvan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Alvan and extending to:
- Bedford, which is the Seat of Bedford County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alvan to Bedford, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 104 miles [167.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,891 miles [9,480.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,604 miles [10,628.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,479 miles [7,208.3 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alvan) 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 Alvan 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 Alvan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.1462, Longitude: -78.1492 In this case, the coordinates for Alvan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.475 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.296 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.712 degrees. |
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