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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 Melon, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melon 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 Melon:
- 28.841362, -99.113922
- 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 Melon
- 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 Frio County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Frio County
- Since Melon is near La Salle County and also Medina County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for La Salle County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Medina 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 Melon
Curious and Interesting Names Near Melon ...
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.
- Bigfoot
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Charlotte
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Crown
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Crown is located in Atascosa County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
- Derby
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Derby is located in Frio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derby
- Derby has also been known as:
- Derby Colonia
- Gardendale
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Gardendale is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardendale
- Goldfinch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Goldfinch is located in Frio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldfinch
- Hilltop
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Hilltop is located in Frio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
- Hilltop has also been known as:
- Hilltop Colonia
- Miguel
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Miguel is located in Frio County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miguel
- Millett
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Millett is located in La Salle County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millett
- Yancey
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
How Far From Melon 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 Melon to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Melon and extending to:
- Pearsall, which is the Seat of Frio County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 128 miles [206 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from Melon to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,438 miles [2,314.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 57 days and walking would take 82 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,281 miles [11,717.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,011 miles [12,892.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,887 miles [9,474.2 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Melon) 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 Melon 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 Melon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.8414, Longitude: -99.1139 In this case, the coordinates for Melon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.898 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.123 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.009 degrees. |
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