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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 Gate City Acres, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gate City Acres 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 Gate City Acres:
- 26.300349, -98.136398
- 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 Gate City Acres
- 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 Hidalgo County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
- Since Gate City Acres is near Willacy County and also Cameron County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Willacy County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron 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 Gate City Acres
Curious and Interesting Names Near Gate City Acres ...
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.
- Borderland Retreat
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Borderland Retreat is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borderland Retreat
- Borderland Retreat has also been known as:
- Borderland Retreat Colonia
- Edinburg
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Isaacs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Isaacs is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isaacs
- Isaacs has also been known as:
- Isaacs Colonia
- Lull
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lull is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lull
- Meadow Lands
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Meadow Lands is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lands
- Meadow Lands has also been known as:
- Meadow Lands Colonia
- Merrill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Merrill is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrill
- Merrill has also been known as:
- Merrill Colonia
- Post Oaks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Post Oaks is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oaks
- Post Oaks has also been known as:
- Post Oaks Colonia
- Red Barn
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Red Barn is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Barn
- Red Barn has also been known as:
- Red Barn Colonia
- River Bend
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- River Bend is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Bend
- River Bend has also been known as:
- River Bend Colonia
- Summerwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Summerwood is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerwood
- Summerwood has also been known as:
- Summerwood Colonia
- Tower Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Tower Heights is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Heights
- Tower Heights has also been known as:
- Tower Heights Colonia
- Twin Lake
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Twin Lake is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Lake
- Twin Lake has also been known as:
- Twin Lake Colonia
How Far From Gate City Acres 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 Gate City Acres to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Gate City Acres and extending to:
- Edinburg, which is the Seat of Hidalgo County, lies just to the West.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 274 miles [441 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from Gate City Acres to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,498 miles [2,410.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 86 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,378 miles [11,873.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,096 miles [13,029.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,971 miles [9,609.4 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 '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- Gate City Acres) 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 Gate City Acres 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 Gate City Acres. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.3003, Longitude: -98.1364 In this case, the coordinates for Gate City Acres have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.782 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.475 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.729 degrees. |
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