Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Caretta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Caretta and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Caretta
- 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 Caretta:
- 37.335669, -81.672887
- 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 Caretta
- 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDowell County
- Since Caretta is near Buchanan County and also Tazewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell 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 Caretta ...
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.
- Antler
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Beartown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Bearwallow
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearwallow
- Bearwallow is located in Buchanan County (VA)
- Big Sandy
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sandy
- Big Sandy is located in McDowell County
- Cucumber
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Dan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - English
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Erin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Filbert
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Gary
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Height
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Hemphill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast) - Continue List (9 more) ...
- Hix ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south) - Jacobs Fork
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacobs Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs Fork
- Jacobs Fork is located in McDowell County
- Johnstown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Peapatch
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Premier
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Rift
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Rockridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Squire
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Warriormine
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warriormine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warriormine
- Warriormine is located in McDowell County
- Hix ‑ Historic
How Far From Caretta 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 Caretta to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Caretta and extending to:
- Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 69 miles [111 km]<3> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Caretta to Charleston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 273 miles [439.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,161 miles [9,915.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,871 miles [11,057.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,747 miles [7,639.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Caretta. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Caretta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Caretta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3357, Longitude: -81.6729 In this case, the coordinates for Caretta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Caretta 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 310.701 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.409 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.201 degrees. |