Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sweet Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sweet Valley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sweet Valley
- 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 Sweet Valley:
- 41.282304, -76.144651
- 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 Sweet Valley
- 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 Luzerne County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Luzerne County
- Since Sweet Valley is near Wyoming County and also Columbia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
- eBird sighting report for Columbia 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 Sweet Valley ...
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.
- Fades
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Hughs
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Loyalville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loyalville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyalville
- Loyalville is located in Luzerne County
- Meeker
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
- Meeker is located in Luzerne County
- Mossville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mossville
- Mossville is located in Luzerne County
- Outlet
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Pikes Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pikes Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikes Creek
- Pikes Creek is located in Luzerne County
- Red Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Ripple ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Roaring Brook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roaring Brook have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Brook
- Roaring Brook is located in Luzerne County
- Ruggles
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Silkworth
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
How Far From Sweet Valley 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 Sweet Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Sweet Valley and extending to:
- Wilkes-Barre, which is the Seat of Luzerne County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Sweet Valley to Wilkes-Barre, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 79 miles [127.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). 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 171 miles [275.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,760 miles [9,269.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,473 miles [10,417.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,348 miles [6,997.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sweet Valley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Luzerne County: www.luzernecounty.org/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sweet Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sweet Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2823, Longitude: -76.1447 In this case, the coordinates for Sweet Valley 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 Sweet Valley 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 307.171 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.997 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.359 degrees. |