Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Ala Blanca:
  • 26.410341, -98.998363
  • 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 Ala Blanca

• 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 Starr County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Starr County
  • Since Ala Blanca is near Zapata County and also Hidalgo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Zapata County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo 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 Ala Blanca

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ala Blanca ...

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.

• Airport Heights
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Airport Heights is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Heights
• Evergreen
  (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Evergreen is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Evergreen has also been known as:
  • Evergreen Colonia
• Hackberry
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Hackberry is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
  • Hackberry has also been known as:
  • Hackberry Colonia
• Hilltop
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Hilltop is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Hilltop has also been known as:
  • Hilltop Colonia
• Joseph Griggs Colonia
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Joseph Griggs Colonia is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Griggs Colonia
• Margarita
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Margarita is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Margarita
  • Margarita has also been known as:
  • Margarita Colonia
• Mitchell
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Mitchell is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
  • Mitchell has also been known as:
  • Mitchell Colonia
• Salmon
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Salmon is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon
  • Salmon has also been known as:
  • Salmon Colonia
• Sunset
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Sunset is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset
  • Sunset has also been known as:
  • Sunset Colonia

How Far From Ala Blanca 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 Ala Blanca to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Ala Blanca and extending to:

• Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Ala Blanca to Rio Grande City, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
• Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 277 miles [445.8 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,534 miles [2,468.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 88 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,407 miles [11,920.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• 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 northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,003 miles [9,660.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'