Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vegan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vegan and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vegan
- 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 Vegan:
- 38.963990, -80.113691
- 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 Vegan
- 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 Upshur County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Upshur County
- Since Vegan is near Barbour County and also Randolph County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Barbour County
- eBird sighting report for Randolph 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 Vegan ...
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.
- Deanville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Five Forks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Five Forks is located in Upshur County
- Gale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Heavener Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heavener Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heavener Grove
- Heavener Grove is located in Upshur County
- Heavner ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Ivy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Jimtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Kingsville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kingsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingsville
- Kingsville is located in Randolph County
- Murphy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Pumpkintown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkintown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkintown
- Pumpkintown is located in Randolph County
- Sand Run
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Skidmore ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Swamp Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Vegan 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 Vegan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Vegan and extending to:
- Buckhannon, which is the Seat of Upshur County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 92 miles [148.1 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Vegan to Charleston, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 165 miles [265.5 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,023 miles [9,693.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,736 miles [10,840.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,612 miles [7,422.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vegan. 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> | 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- Vegan) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vegan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9640, Longitude: -80.1137 In this case, the coordinates for Vegan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Vegan to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.724 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.535 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.002 degrees. |