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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 Dernal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dernal 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 Dernal:
- 28.695550, -96.944431
- 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 Dernal
- 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 Victoria County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Victoria County
- Since Dernal is near Calhoun County and also Goliad County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Calhoun County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Goliad 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 Dernal
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dernal ...
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.
- Clark Station
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Clark Station is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark Station
- Green Lake
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Green Lake is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Lake
- Guadalupe
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Guadalupe is located in Victoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalupe
- Hughes ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hughes is located in Victoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
- Inez
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Nursery
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Raisin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Raisin is located in Victoria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raisin
- Sixmile
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Sixmile is located in Calhoun County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sixmile
How Far From Dernal to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Dernal to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Dernal and extending to:
- Victoria, which is the Seat of Victoria County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Dernal to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,337 miles [2,151.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 53 days and walking would take 76 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,205 miles [11,595.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,927 miles [12,757.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,802 miles [9,337.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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- Dernal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Dernal 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 Dernal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.6956, Longitude: -96.9444 In this case, the coordinates for Dernal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.44 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.378 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.102 degrees. |
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