RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Starr County >> E Lopez Colonia >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 E Lopez Colonia:
    • 26.309236, -98.638357
    • 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 E Lopez Colonia
  • 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:
    • eBird sighting report for Starr County
    • Since E Lopez Colonia is near Hidalgo County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Curious and Interesting Names Near E Lopez Colonia ...

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.

  • Crow
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow
    • Crow is located in Hidalgo County
  • Havana
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havana
    • Havana is located in Hidalgo County
  • Joseph Griggs Colonia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joseph Griggs Colonia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Griggs Colonia
    • Joseph Griggs Colonia is located in Starr County
  • Lakeview
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
    • Lakeview is located in Hidalgo County
    • Lakeview has also been known as:
    • Lakeview Colonia
  • Manuel Garcia
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manuel Garcia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manuel Garcia
    • Manuel Garcia is located in Starr County
    • Manuel Garcia has also been known as:
    • Manuel Garcia Colonia
  • Mikes
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mikes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikes
    • Mikes is located in Starr County
    • Mikes has also been known as:
    • Mikes Colonia
  • Mitchell
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mitchell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
    • Mitchell is located in Starr County
    • Mitchell has also been known as:
    • Mitchell Colonia
  • Ratcliff
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ratcliff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratcliff
    • Ratcliff is located in Starr County
  • Sammy Martinez
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sammy Martinez have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sammy Martinez
    • Sammy Martinez is located in Starr County
    • Sammy Martinez has also been known as:
    • Sammy Martinez Colonia

How Far From E Lopez Colonia 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 E Lopez Colonia to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from E Lopez Colonia to Rio Grande City, with an average speed<3> 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 278 miles [447.4 km] to the north (N). 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 1,521 miles [2,447.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 60 days and walking would take 87 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,398 miles [11,905.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,117 miles [13,063 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,993 miles [9,644.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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- E Lopez Colonia) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in E Lopez Colonia. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3092, Longitude: -98.6384       In this case, the coordinates for E Lopez Colonia have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 E Lopez Colonia to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.112 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.868 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.932 degrees.