RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Arizona >> Navajo County >> First Mesa >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in First Mesa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to First Mesa 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 First Mesa:
    • 35.836524, -110.382292
    • 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 First Mesa
  • 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 Navajo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Navajo County
    • Since First Mesa is near Apache County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Apache 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 First Mesa

Curious and Interesting Names Near First Mesa ...

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.

How Far From First Mesa 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 First Mesa to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in First Mesa and extending to:

  • Holbrook, which is the Seat of Navajo County, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from First Mesa to Holbrook, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 190 miles [305.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,831 miles [2,946.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 72 days and walking would take 104 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,256 miles [11,677.4 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 8,021 miles [12,908.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,961 miles [9,593.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 from Point A (ie- First Mesa) 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 First Mesa 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 First Mesa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8365, Longitude: -110.3823    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 330.184 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 328.978 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.197 degrees.