Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Arbala:
  • 32.987618, -95.653291
  • 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 Arbala

• 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 Hopkins County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Hopkins County
  • Since Arbala is near Rains County and also Wood County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Rains County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Wood 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 Arbala

Curious and Interesting Names Near Arbala ...

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.

• Bonanza
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Bonanza is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonanza
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bonanza <1>
• County Line
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • County Line is located in Rains County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for County Line
• Crossroads
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Crossroads is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
• Divide
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Divide is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Divide
• Greenview
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Greenview is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenview
• Hogansville
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Hogansville is located in Rains County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogansville
• Liberty
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Liberty is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
• Martin Springs
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Martin Springs is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Springs
• Rockdale
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Rockdale is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
• Shady Grove
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Shady Grove is located in Rains County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
• Shotgun Crossing
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Shotgun Crossing is located in Rains County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shotgun Crossing
• Union
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Union is located in Hopkins County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union

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

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

• Sulphur Springs, which is the Seat of Hopkins County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Arbala to Sulphur Springs, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
• Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 224 miles [360.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,115 miles [1,794.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,930 miles [11,152.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,662 miles [12,330.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,540 miles [8,915.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'