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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 Sparkle, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sparkle 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 Sparkle:
- 37.928257, -122.056630
- 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 Sparkle
- 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 Contra Costa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Contra Costa County
- Since Sparkle is near Alameda County and also Solano County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Solano 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 Sparkle
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sparkle ...
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.
- Clyde
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Clyde is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Danville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Danville is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 44,883 people
- Former name for Danville:
- Inmanville
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Danville <1>
- Diablo
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Four Corners
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Four Corners is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Martinez
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain View
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Mountain View is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Pleasant Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Rock City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Rock City is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock City
- Vine Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Vine Hill is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vine Hill
- Walnut Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Walnut Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Walnut Heights is located in Contra Costa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Heights
How Far From Sparkle 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 Sparkle to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Sparkle and extending to:
- Martinez, which is the Seat of Contra Costa County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 54 miles [86.9 km]<2> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could walk a straight line from Sparkle to Sacramento, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,411 miles [3,880.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 137 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,398 miles [11,905.9 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 8,165 miles [13,140.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,218 miles [10,006.9 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 '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- Sparkle) 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 Sparkle 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 Sparkle. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9283, Longitude: -122.0566 In this case, the coordinates for Sparkle have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.914 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.814 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.943 degrees. |
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