|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Portex, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Portex 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 Portex:
- 36.145507, -119.027046
- 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 Portex
- 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 Tulare County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tulare County
- Since Portex is near Kern County and also Kings County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Kern County
- Open the 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Portex
Curious and Interesting Names Near Portex ...
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.
- Burr
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Burr is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr
- Cotton Center
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Cotton Center is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Center
- Grey Rocks ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Grey Rocks is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grey Rocks
- Harmony
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Harmony is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
- Hope ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Hope is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
- Jones Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jones Corner is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Corner
- Magnolia
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Magnolia is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
- Plainview
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Plainview is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plainview
- Pleasant Grove ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Poplar
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Poplar is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar
- Poplar has also been known as:
- Poplar - Cotton Center
- Porterville
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Stout
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Stout is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
- Tonyville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Tonyville is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tonyville
- Worth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Worth is located in Tulare County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worth
How Far From Portex to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Portex 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<2> community of Portex once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Portex and extending to:
- Visalia, which is the Seat of Tulare County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<3> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Portex to Visalia, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 215 miles [346 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,287 miles [3,680.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 130 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,452 miles [11,992.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,220 miles [13,228.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,231 miles [10,027.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'
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> | 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 Portex, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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- Portex) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Portex 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 Portex. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1455, Longitude: -119.0270 In this case, the coordinates for Portex have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.171 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.407 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 326.109 degrees. |
|
|