Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in La Carla, we use the following websites to find information relevant to La Carla and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for La Carla

• 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 Carla:
  • 26.436280, -98.740519
  • 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 Carla

• 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:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Starr County
  • Since La Carla is near Hidalgo County and also Zapata County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Hidalgo County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Zapata 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 Carla

Curious and Interesting Names Near La Carla ...

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.

• Airport Heights
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Airport Heights is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Heights
• Hilltop
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Hilltop is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
  • Hilltop has also been known as:
  • Hilltop Colonia
• Joseph Griggs Colonia
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Joseph Griggs Colonia is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joseph Griggs Colonia
• Manuel Garcia
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Manuel Garcia is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manuel Garcia
  • Manuel Garcia has also been known as:
  • Manuel Garcia Colonia
• Mikes
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Mikes is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikes
  • Mikes has also been known as:
  • Mikes Colonia
• Mitchell
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Mitchell is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchell
  • Mitchell has also been known as:
  • Mitchell Colonia
• Ratcliff
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Ratcliff is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ratcliff
• Salmon
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Salmon is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon
  • Salmon has also been known as:
  • Salmon Colonia
• Sammy Martinez
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Sammy Martinez is located in Starr County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sammy Martinez
  • Sammy Martinez has also been known as:
  • Sammy Martinez Colonia

How Far From La Carla 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 La Carla 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 Carla and extending to:

• Rio Grande City, which is the Seat of Starr County, lies just to the Southwest.
• Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 271 miles [436.1 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from La Carla 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 1,520 miles [2,446.2 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,395 miles [11,901.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,116 miles [13,061.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,991 miles [9,641.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'