RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Douglas County >> Matthiesen >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Matthiesen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Matthiesen and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Matthiesen:
    • 47.767921, -119.663659
    • 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 Matthiesen
  • 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 Douglas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Douglas County
    • Since Matthiesen is near Chelan County and also Okanogan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chelan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Okanogan 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 Matthiesen

Curious and Interesting Names Near Matthiesen ...

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.

  • Dry Falls Junction
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Dry Falls Junction is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Falls Junction
  • Dyer ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Dyer is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dyer
  • Farmer ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Farmer is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
  • Fordair
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fordair is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordair
  • Howard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Howard is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
  • Mold ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Mold is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mold
  • Mud Spring
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Mud Spring is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mud Spring
  • Rocky Butte
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Rocky Butte is located in Douglas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Butte
  • Stayman
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Stayman is located in Chelan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stayman

How Far From Matthiesen 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 Matthiesen 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<1> community of Matthiesen once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Matthiesen and extending to:

  • Waterville, which is the Seat of Douglas County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Matthiesen to Waterville, 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.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 159 miles [255.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,196 miles [3,534.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 86 days and walking would take 125 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,720 miles [10,814.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,484 miles [12,044.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,582 miles [8,983.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Matthiesen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Matthiesen) 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 Matthiesen 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 Matthiesen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.7679, Longitude: -119.6637       In this case, the coordinates for Matthiesen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 338.679 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.895 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.999 degrees.