Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ala Blanca, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ala Blanca and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ala Blanca
- 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 Ala Blanca:
- 26.410341, -98.998363
- 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 Ala Blanca
- 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 Starr County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Starr County
- Since Ala Blanca is near Zapata County and also Hidalgo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Zapata County
- eBird sighting report for Hidalgo 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 Ala Blanca ...
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.
- Airport Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Airport Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Heights
- Airport Heights is located in Starr County
- Evergreen
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Hackberry
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Hilltop
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Joseph Griggs Colonia
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joseph Griggs Colonia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Griggs Colonia
- Joseph Griggs Colonia is located in Starr County
- Margarita
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Mitchell
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Salmon
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Sunset
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
How Far From Ala Blanca 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 Ala Blanca to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ala Blanca and extending to:
- Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Ala Blanca to Rio Grande City, with an average speed<3> 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.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 277 miles [445.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). 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 1,534 miles [2,468.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 88 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,407 miles [11,920.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,128 miles [13,080.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,003 miles [9,660.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ala Blanca. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ala Blanca) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ala Blanca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.4103, Longitude: -98.9984 In this case, the coordinates for Ala Blanca 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 Ala Blanca 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 320.368 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.186 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.075 degrees. |