Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Oakland Plaza, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oakland Plaza and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Oakland Plaza
- 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 Oakland Plaza:
- 29.679400, -95.300800
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Oakland Plaza
- 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 Harris County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Harris County
- Since Oakland Plaza is near Brazoria County and also Galveston County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Brazoria County
- eBird sighting report for Galveston 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakland Plaza ...
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.
- Gloverdale
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gloverdale
- Gloverdale is located in Harris County
- Greenway Place
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenway Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Place
- Greenway Place is located in Harris County
- Harrisburg
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrisburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Harrisburg is located in Harris County
- Kennedy Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennedy Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennedy Heights
- Kennedy Heights is located in Harris County
- Kings Court
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kings Court have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Court
- Kings Court is located in Harris County
- Magnolia Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Magnolia Park. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Park
- Magnolia Park is located in Harris County
- Meadow Creek Village
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Creek Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Creek Village
- Meadow Creek Village is located in Harris County
- Paradise Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paradise Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise Valley
- Paradise Valley is located in Harris County
- Pecan Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pecan Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Park
- Pecan Park is located in Harris County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Riverview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Skyscraper Shadows
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skyscraper Shadows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyscraper Shadows
- Skyscraper Shadows is located in Harris County
- Sun Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
- Sun Valley is located in Harris County
- Sunny Side
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunny Side have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunny Side
- Sunny Side is located in Harris County
- Sunnyside Gardens
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunnyside Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside Gardens
- Sunnyside Gardens is located in Harris County
- University Oaks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Oaks
- University Oaks is located in Harris County
- Riverview
How Far From Oakland Plaza 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 Oakland Plaza to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Oakland Plaza and extending to:
- Houston, which is the Seat of Harris County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 151 miles [243 km]<3> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Oakland Plaza to Austin, with an average speed<4>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 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,217 miles [1,958.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 70 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,089 miles [11,408.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,809 miles [12,567.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,684 miles [9,147.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Oakland Plaza. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Harris County: www.co.harris.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oakland Plaza) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Oakland Plaza. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.6794, Longitude: -95.3008 In this case, the coordinates for Oakland Plaza have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Oakland Plaza to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.534 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.436 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.337 degrees. |