RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Santa Barbara County >> La Laguna >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Laguna, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Laguna 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 La Laguna:
    • 34.783315, -120.134316
    • 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 La Laguna
  • 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 Santa Barbara County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Barbara County
    • Since La Laguna is near San Luis Obispo County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Luis Obispo 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 La Laguna

Communities Also Named La Laguna ...

We found two communities that are also named La Laguna.

There is one other community in California that is also named La Laguna.

Beyond California, there is another community also named La Laguna in the United States.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Riverside County
      • This La Laguna is located in Riverside County and lies 177 miles [284.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the La Laguna that is located in Santa Barbara County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Riverside County community of La Laguna.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Yuma County
      • This community is historic<2> and although located in Yuma County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yuma County community of La Laguna.

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Laguna ...

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.

  • Acorn
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Acorn is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acorn
  • Bragur
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Bragur is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragur
  • Gato
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Gato is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gato
  • Gum
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Gum is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum
  • Jesus Maria
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Jesus Maria is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jesus Maria
  • Junction Camp
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Junction Camp is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction Camp
  • Mission Hills
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Mission Hills is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
  • Naples ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Naples is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
  • Rosemary
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Rosemary is located in Santa Barbara County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosemary

How Far From La Laguna 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 La Laguna to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in La Laguna and extending to:

  • Santa Barbara, which is the Seat of Santa Barbara County, lies 35 miles [56.3 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from La Laguna to Santa Barbara, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 272 miles [437.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 2,376 miles [3,823.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 135 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,562 miles [12,169.9 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 8,331 miles [13,407.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,343 miles [10,208.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- La Laguna) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 La Laguna, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 La Laguna 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 La Laguna. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7833, Longitude: -120.1343       In this case, the coordinates for La Laguna have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.92 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.233 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.752 degrees.