Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in July, we use the following websites to find information relevant to July and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for July
- 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 July:
- 38.645925, -81.537346
- 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 July
- 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Roane County
- Since July is near Jackson County and also Kanawha County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- eBird sighting report for Kanawha 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 July ...
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.
- Advent
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Flatfork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Harmony
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Hicumbottom
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hicumbottom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicumbottom
- Hicumbottom is located in Kanawha County
- Island Branch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Branch
- Island Branch is located in Kanawha County
- Kettle
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Mattie ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Mount Hope
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Roane County
- Mount Tell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Tell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Tell
- Mount Tell is located in Jackson County
- Red Knob
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Romance
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romance
- Romance is located in Jackson County
- Vicars
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Woodyard ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
How Far From July 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 July 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<2> community of July once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in July and extending to:
- Spencer, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<3> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from July to Spencer, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 21 miles [33.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 242 miles [389.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,096 miles [9,810.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,811 miles [10,961.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,686 miles [7,541.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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> | 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 July, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- July) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in July. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6459, Longitude: -81.5373 In this case, the coordinates for July 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 July 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 310.597 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.484 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.726 degrees. |