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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 Vansant, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vansant 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 Vansant:
- 37.232393, -82.099495
- 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 Vansant
- 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 Buchanan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- Since Vansant is near Dickenson County and also Russell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Dickenson County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Russell 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 Vansant
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vansant ...
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.
- Deel
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Deel is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deel
- Hanger
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Hanger is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanger
- Janey
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Longbottom
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Longbottom is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longbottom
- Maxie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Maxie is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxie
- Mount Heron
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mount Heron is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Heron
- Page
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Page is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page
- Pearly
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Pearly is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearly
- Royal City
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Royal City is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal City
- Tookland
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Tookland is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tookland
How Far From Vansant 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 Vansant to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Vansant and extending to:
- Grundy, which is the Seat of Buchanan County, lies just to the North.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 256 miles [412 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Vansant to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 298 miles [479.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,183 miles [9,950.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,894 miles [11,094.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,770 miles [7,676.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Vansant) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Vansant 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 Vansant. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2324, Longitude: -82.0995 |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.958 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.688 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.412 degrees. |
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