Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cistern, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cistern and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cistern
- 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 Cistern:
- 29.816435, -97.218514
- 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 Cistern
- 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Cistern is near Bastrop County and also Gonzales County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bastrop County
- eBird sighting report for Gonzales 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cistern ...
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.
- Colony
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Colony. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
- Colony is located in Fayette County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Colony
- From Cistern to Colony
- Colorado
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Elm Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Flower Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flower Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flower Hill
- Flower Hill is located in Bastrop County
- Jordan
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest) - Lena
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Pettytown
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pettytown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettytown
- Pettytown is located in Caldwell County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pettytown
- From Cistern to Pettytown
- Sandy Fork
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Fork
- Sandy Fork is located in Gonzales County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Sandy Fork
- From Cistern to Sandy Fork
- String Prairie
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for String Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for String Prairie
- String Prairie is located in Bastrop County
How Far From Cistern 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 Cistern to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Cistern and extending to:
- La Grange, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Cistern to La Grange, with an average speed<4> 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 most of a day.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 44 miles [70.8 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,306 miles [2,101.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 51 days and walking would take 75 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,157 miles [11,518.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,883 miles [12,686.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,759 miles [9,268.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cistern. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Fayette County: www.co.fayette.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 from Point A (ie- Cistern) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cistern. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8164, Longitude: -97.2185 |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Cistern to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.801 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.946 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.13 degrees. |