Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Raines Houses

• 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 Raines Houses:
  • 37.422439, -122.161631
  • 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 Raines Houses

• 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 Clara County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Santa Clara County
  • Since Raines Houses is near San Mateo County and also Alameda County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for San Mateo County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda 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 Raines Houses

Curious and Interesting Names Near Raines Houses ...

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.

• Castro City
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Castro City is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castro City
• Crescent Park
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Crescent Park is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Park
• Evergreen Park
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Evergreen Park is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Park
• Green Acres
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Green Acres is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
• Greenmeadow
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Greenmeadow is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenmeadow
• Meadow Park
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Meadow Park is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Park
• Neal
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Neal is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neal
• Park Forest
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Park Forest is located in San Mateo County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Forest
• Professorville
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Professorville is located in Santa Clara County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Professorville
• Ravenswood
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Ravenswood is located in San Mateo County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenswood
• University Heights
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • University Heights is located in San Mateo County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Heights
• Vintage Oaks
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Vintage Oaks is located in San Mateo County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintage Oaks

How Far From Raines Houses 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 Raines Houses to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Raines Houses and extending to:

• San Jose, which is the Seat of Santa Clara County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Raines Houses to San Jose, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
• Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 88 miles [141.6 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,426 miles [3,904.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,433 miles [11,962.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,200 miles [13,196.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,251 miles [10,060 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>'