Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Petro, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Petro and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Petro
- 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 Petro:
- 35.696344, -119.330390
- 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 Petro
- 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 Kern County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Kern County
- Since Petro is near Tulare County and also Kings County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Tulare County
- eBird sighting report for Kings 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 Petro ...
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.
- Elmo
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Hights Corner
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hights Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hights Corner
- Hights Corner is located in Kern County
- Jasmin
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east) - Leonards ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Mexican Colony
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mexican Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexican Colony
- Mexican Colony is located in Kern County
- Minter Village
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minter Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minter Village
- Minter Village is located in Kern County
- Pixley
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pixley
- Pixley is located in Tulare County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pixley <2>
- Pond
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Spa ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
How Far From Petro 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 community such as Petro to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Petro once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Petro and extending to:
- Bakersfield, which is the Seat of Kern County, lies 28 miles [45.1 km]<4> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Petro to Bakersfield, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 231 miles [371.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,312 miles [3,720.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,487 miles [12,049.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,256 miles [13,286.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,266 miles [10,084.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Kern County: www.co.kern.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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 Petro, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Petro) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Petro. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6963, Longitude: -119.3304 In this case, the coordinates for Petro have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Petro to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.366 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.616 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.287 degrees. |