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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 Vidal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vidal 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 Vidal:
- 34.118904, -114.510236
- 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 Vidal
- 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 San Bernardino County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Bernardino County
- Since Vidal is near La Paz County and also Riverside County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for La Paz County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Riverside 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 Vidal
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vidal ...
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.
- Big River
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Bluewater
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Bluewater is located in La Paz County (AZ)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluewater
- Cross Roads
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Cross Roads is located in San Bernardino County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
- Inca
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Inca is located in Riverside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inca
- Parker Strip
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Parker Strip is located in La Paz County (AZ)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker Strip
- Rice ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Rice is located in San Bernardino County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
- Styx
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Styx is located in Riverside County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Styx
- Tin Shack ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Tin Shack is located in San Bernardino County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tin Shack
How Far From Vidal to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Vidal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Vidal and extending to:
- San Bernardino, which is the Seat of San Bernardino County, lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<2> to the west. If you could drive a straight line from Vidal to San Bernardino, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 495 miles [796.6 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,090 miles [3,363.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 82 days and walking would take 119 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,471 miles [12,023.4 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 8,239 miles [13,259.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,198 miles [9,974.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 from Point A (ie- Vidal) 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 Vidal 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 Vidal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1189, Longitude: -114.5102 In this case, the coordinates for Vidal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 333.199 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 332.456 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 323.509 degrees. |
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