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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 La Blanca, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Blanca 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 La Blanca:
- 26.292849, -98.037719
- 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 La Blanca
- 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 La Blanca is near Cameron County and also Willacy County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Cameron County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Willacy 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 La Blanca
Curious and Interesting Names Near La Blanca ...
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.
- Big John
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Big John is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big John
- Big John has also been known as:
- Big John Colonia
- Catherine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Catherine is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catherine
- Catherine has also been known as:
- Catherine Colonia
- Delta - Rodger
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Delta - Rodger is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta - Rodger
- Delta - Rodger has also been known as:
- Delta - Rodger Colonia
- Delta West
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Delta West is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta West
- Delta West has also been known as:
- Delta West Colonia
- Evergreen
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Evergreen is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
- Imperial
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Imperial is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Imperial
- Imperial has also been known as:
- Imperial Colonia
- Isaacs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Isaacs is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Isaacs
- Isaacs has also been known as:
- Isaacs Colonia
- Matt
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Matt is located in Hidalgo County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matt
- Matt has also been known as:
- Matt Colonia
- Tower Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- 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
How Far From La Blanca 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 La Blanca to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in La Blanca 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 275 miles [442.6 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from La Blanca to Austin, with an average speed<2>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 1,493 miles [2,402.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 59 days and walking would take 85 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,375 miles [11,868.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,092 miles [13,022.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,968 miles [9,604.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- La Blanca) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 La Blanca 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 La Blanca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.2928, Longitude: -98.0377 |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.717 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.396 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.69 degrees. |
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