RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> San Diego County >> La Mesa >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Mesa, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Mesa and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Mesa:
    • 32.767811, -117.023545
    • 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 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 San Diego County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Diego 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 Mesa

Communities Also Named La Mesa ...

We found three communities that are also named La Mesa.

Within California, the name La Mesa is unique.

Beyond California, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Louisiana
      • Lincoln Parish
      • This La Mesa is located in Lincoln Parish and lies 1,413 miles [2,274 km]<1> to the east of the La Mesa that is located in San Diego County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln Parish community of La Mesa.
    • New Mexico
      • Dona Ana County
      • This La Mesa is located in Dona Ana County and lies 602 miles [968.8 km]<1> to the east of the La Mesa that is located in San Diego County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dona Ana County community of La Mesa.
    • Texas
      • Hidalgo County
      • This La Mesa is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,231 miles [1,981.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the La Mesa that is located in San Diego County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of La Mesa.

Curious and Interesting Names Near La 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.

  • Allied Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Allied Gardens is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allied Gardens
  • Emerald Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Emerald Hills is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emerald Hills
  • Grantville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Grantville is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
  • Homelands
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Homelands is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homelands
  • Lemon Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Lincoln Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lincoln Park is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Mount Helix
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Mount Helix is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Helix
  • Mount Hope
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Hope is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
  • Normal Heights
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Normal Heights is located in San Diego County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normal Heights
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...

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

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

  • San Diego, which is the Seat of San Diego County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 472 miles [759.6 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from La Mesa to Sacramento, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 27 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 19 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,259 miles [3,635.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 129 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,619 miles [12,261.6 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 8,387 miles [13,497.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,358 miles [10,232.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- La Mesa) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 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 La Mesa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.7678, Longitude: -117.0235    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 335.038 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 334.59 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.909 degrees.