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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rancho Del Puerto, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rancho Del Puerto 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 Rancho Del Puerto:
- 37.462434, -121.074932
- 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 Rancho Del Puerto
- 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 Stanislaus County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Stanislaus County
- Since Rancho Del Puerto is near Merced County and also San Joaquin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Merced County
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Joaquin 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 Rancho Del Puerto
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rancho Del Puerto ...
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.
- Aurora
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Aurora is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Crows Landing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Empire
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Harp
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Harp is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harp
- Hatch
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hatch is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatch
- Hills Ferry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hills Ferry is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Ferry
- Irwin
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Irwin is located in Merced County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Jet
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Jet is located in Stanislaus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jet
How Far From Rancho Del Puerto 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 Rancho Del Puerto to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Rancho Del Puerto and extending to:
- Modesto, which is the Seat of Stanislaus County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rancho Del Puerto to Modesto, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 80 miles [128.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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 2,368 miles [3,810.9 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 7,409 miles [11,923.6 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 8,177 miles [13,159.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,217 miles [10,005.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'
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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rancho Del Puerto) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Rancho Del Puerto 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 Rancho Del Puerto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4624, Longitude: -121.0749 In this case, the coordinates for Rancho Del Puerto have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.037 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 339.735 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.341 degrees. |
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