Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alpha, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alpha and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alpha
- 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 Alpha:
- 47.675730, -117.167705
- 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 Alpha
- 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 Spokane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Spokane County
- Since Alpha is near Kootenai County and also Bonner County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Kootenai County
- eBird sighting report for Bonner 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
Communities Also Named Alpha ...
We found 33 communities that share the name Alpha.
There is one other community in Washington which is also named Alpha.
Beyond Washington, we know of another 32 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 32 communities, 32 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In Washington ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Boise County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Idaho community of Alpha [Boise County].
- Valley County
- This Alpha is located in Valley County and lies 233 miles [375 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Alpha that is located in Spokane County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Valley County community of Alpha.
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Finney County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alpha [Finney County].
- McPherson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Alpha [McPherson County].
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Manitoba
- We haven't found the location of this community yet.
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Benzie County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Alpha [Benzie County].
- Iron County
- This Alpha is located in Iron County and lies 1,356 miles [2,182.3 km]<1> to the east of the Alpha that is located in Spokane County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iron County community of Alpha.
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Grundy County
- This Alpha is located in Grundy County and lies 1,289 miles [2,074.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Alpha that is located in Spokane County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Grundy County community of Alpha.
- Saint Louis County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Alpha [Saint Louis County].
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Doddridge County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Alpha [Doddridge County].
- Harrison County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Alpha [Harrison County].
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alpha ...
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.
- Chester
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Dishman
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Greenacres
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenacres
- Greenacres is located in Spokane County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenacres <5>
- Hillyard
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillyard
- Hillyard is located in Spokane County
- Irwin
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Irwin is located in Spokane County
- Liberty Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Lake
- Liberty Lake is located in Spokane County
- Estimated population in 2015: 8,906 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Liberty Lake <5>
- Mica
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mica
- Mica is located in Spokane County
- Opportunity
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opportunity
- Opportunity is located in Spokane County
- Orchard Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Park
- Orchard Park is located in Spokane County
- Orchard Prairie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Prairie
- Orchard Prairie is located in Spokane County
- Pleasant View
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant View have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
- Pleasant View is located in Kootenai County (ID)
How Far From Alpha 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 Alpha to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Alpha once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Alpha and extending to:
- Spokane, which is the Seat of Spokane County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Alpha to Spokane, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 271 miles [436.1 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,080 miles [3,347.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 82 days and walking would take 119 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,682 miles [10,753.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,448 miles [11,986.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,521 miles [8,885.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Spokane County: www.spokanecounty.org/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Alpha) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alpha. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.6757, Longitude: -117.1677 In this case, the coordinates for Alpha have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Alpha, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Alpha could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Alpha to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.636 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.525 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.394 degrees. |