Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blue, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blue
- 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 Blue:
- 30.391071, -97.147812
- 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 Blue
- 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 Lee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lee County
- Since Blue is near Williamson County and also Bastrop County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Williamson County
- eBird sighting report for Bastrop 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 Blue ...
We found five communities that share the name Blue.
Within Texas, the name Blue is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Indiana
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue ...
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.
- Butler
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest) - Forest Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Forest Grove is located in Milam County
- Knobbs Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobbs Springs
- Knobbs Springs is located in Lee County
- Leo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east) - Lincoln
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
- Lincoln is located in Lee County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lincoln <4>
- Pleasant Grove ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Bastrop County
- Pleasant Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in Milam County
- Structure
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Tanglewood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tanglewood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
- Tanglewood is located in Lee County
- Type
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
How Far From Blue 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 Blue to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blue and extending to:
- Giddings, which is the Seat of Lee County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Blue to Giddings, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 36 miles [57.9 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,280 miles [2,060 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 50 days and walking would take 73 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,124 miles [11,465 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,852 miles [12,636.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,728 miles [9,218.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blue. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blue) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.3911, Longitude: -97.1478 |
| <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 Blue 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> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Blue to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.842 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.069 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.051 degrees. |