Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vega, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vega and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Vega
- 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 Vega:
- 36.895787, -121.690781
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Vega
- 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 Monterey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Monterey County
- Since Vega is near Santa Cruz County and also San Benito County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Santa Cruz County
- eBird sighting report for San Benito 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Vega ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Vega.
There is one other community in California which is also named Vega.
Beyond California, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In California ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Vega lies 1,257 miles [2,022.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Vega that is located in Monterey County.
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- New York
- Ohio
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Washington
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vega ...
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.
- Aromas
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aromas
- Aromas is located in Monterey County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aromas <3>
- Castroville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castroville
- Castroville is located in Monterey County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Castroville <3>
- Corporal
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east) - Day Valley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day Valley
- Day Valley is located in Santa Cruz County
- Elkhorn
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Elkhorn is located in Monterey County
- Freedom
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freedom
- Freedom is located in Santa Cruz County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freedom <3>
- Leonard ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west) - Morse
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east) - Murphy Crossing
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murphy Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy Crossing
- Murphy Crossing is located in Monterey County
- Prunedale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prunedale
- Prunedale is located in Monterey County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prunedale <3>
- Rob Roy Junction
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rob Roy Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rob Roy Junction
- Rob Roy Junction is located in Santa Cruz County
How Far From Vega 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 Vega 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<5> community of Vega once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Vega and extending to:
- Salinas, which is the Seat of Monterey County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Vega to Salinas, with an average speed<6> 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 116 miles [186.7 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,412 miles [3,881.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 137 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,458 miles [12,002.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,225 miles [13,236.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,268 miles [10,087.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Monterey County: www.co.monterey.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Vega) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vega. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8958, Longitude: -121.6908 In this case, the coordinates for Vega have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Vega could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | 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 Vega, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Vega to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 339.492 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 340.254 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.714 degrees. |