Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bastian, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bastian and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bastian
- 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 Bastian:
- 37.153329, -81.150436
- 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 Bastian
- 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 Bland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bland County
- Since Bastian is near Tazewell County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
- eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Bastian ...
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.
- Bland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bland
- Bland is located in Bland County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bland <2>
- Cove Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cove Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Creek
- Cove Creek is located in Tazewell County
- Eagle Oak
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Grapefield
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grapefield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapefield
- Grapefield is located in Bland County
- Hicksville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
- Hicksville is located in Bland County
- Point Pleasant
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Point Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
- Point Pleasant is located in Bland County
- Pumpkin Center
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Pumpkin Center is located in Bland County
- Rocky Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Gap
- Rocky Gap is located in Bland County
- Round Bottom
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bottom
- Round Bottom is located in Bland County
- Suiter
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Bastian 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 Bastian to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Bastian and extending to:
- Bland, which is the Seat of Bland County, lies just to the South Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 205 miles [329.9 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Bastian to Richmond, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 254 miles [408.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,147 miles [9,892.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,855 miles [11,032.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,731 miles [7,613.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bastian. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Bland County: www.bland.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bastian) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bastian. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1533, Longitude: -81.1504 |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Bastian to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.391 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.028 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.04 degrees. |