Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Twin Cities:
  • 38.291025, -121.311060
  • 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 Twin Cities

• 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 Sacramento County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Sacramento County
  • Since Twin Cities is near San Joaquin County and also Yolo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for San Joaquin County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Yolo 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 Twin Cities

Curious and Interesting Names Near Twin Cities ...

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.

• Bruceville
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bruceville is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruceville
• Cherokee
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Cherokee is located in San Joaquin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee
• Clay
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Clay is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay
• Elk Grove
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Elk Grove is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Grove
  • Estimated population in 2015: 166,913 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Grove <1>
• Franklin
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Franklin is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
• Guild
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Guild is located in San Joaquin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guild
• Herald
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Herald is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Herald
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Herald <1>
• Hicksville
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Hicksville is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
• Need
  (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Need is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Need
• New Hope Landing
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • New Hope Landing is located in San Joaquin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope Landing
• Point Pleasant
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Point Pleasant is located in Sacramento County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Point Pleasant
• Pope
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Pope is located in San Joaquin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pope
• Woodlake
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Woodlake is located in San Joaquin County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlake

How Far From Twin Cities 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 Twin Cities to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Twin Cities and extending to:

• Sacramento, which is the Seat of Sacramento County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Twin Cities to Sacramento, with an average speed<3> 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 22 miles [35.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,365 miles [3,806.1 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 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 7,361 miles [11,846.4 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 8,128 miles [13,080.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,175 miles [9,937.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'