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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 Macdona, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Macdona 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 Macdona:
- 29.325792, -98.691133
- 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 Macdona
- 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 Bexar County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Bexar County
- Since Macdona is near Medina County and also Atascosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Medina County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Atascosa 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 Macdona
Curious and Interesting Names Near Macdona ...
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.
- Anchorage
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Anchorage is located in Atascosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchorage
- Bigfoot
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Castroville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- China Grove
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- China Grove is located in Bexar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for China Grove
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,314 people
- Coal Mine
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Coal Mine is located in Medina County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coal Mine
- Grey Forest
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Grey Forest is located in Bexar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grey Forest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 575 people
- Hilltop
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Hilltop is located in Bexar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
- Kirby
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Leon Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Sandy Oaks
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Sandy Oaks is located in Bexar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Oaks
- Valley Hi
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Valley Hi is located in Bexar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Hi
How Far From Macdona 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 Macdona to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Macdona and extending to:
- San Antonio, which is the Seat of Bexar County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Macdona to San Antonio, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 86 miles [138.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,398 miles [2,249.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 55 days and walking would take 80 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,239 miles [11,650 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,969 miles [12,824.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,845 miles [9,406.6 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Macdona) 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 Macdona 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 Macdona. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.3258, Longitude: -98.6911 In this case, the coordinates for Macdona have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.698 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 316.946 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.797 degrees. |
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