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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 Vegas Junction, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vegas Junction 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 Vegas Junction:
- 34.976446, -104.991108
- 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 Vegas Junction
- 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 Guadalupe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Guadalupe County
- Since Vegas Junction is near San Miguel County and also Torrance County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Miguel County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Torrance 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 Vegas Junction
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vegas Junction ...
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
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Aurora is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Double Mills
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Double Mills is located in Guadalupe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Mills
- Milagro
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Milagro is located in Guadalupe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milagro
- Park Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Park Springs is located in San Miguel County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Springs
How Far From Vegas Junction 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 Vegas Junction to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Vegas Junction and extending to:
- Santa Rosa, which is the Seat of Guadalupe County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Vegas Junction to Santa Rosa, with an average speed<2> 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 five to six hours.
- Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 72 miles [115.9 km] to the northwest (NW). 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 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,560 miles [2,510.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 61 days and walking would take 89 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,146 miles [11,500.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,903 miles [12,718.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,811 miles [9,351.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Vegas Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Vegas Junction 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 Vegas Junction. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9764, Longitude: -104.9911 In this case, the coordinates for Vegas Junction have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.992 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 323.895 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.397 degrees. |
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