Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Otis Chalk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Otis Chalk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Otis Chalk
- 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 Otis Chalk:
- 32.127903, -101.257341
- 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 Otis Chalk
- 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Howard County
- Since Otis Chalk is near Mitchell County and also Glasscock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
- eBird sighting report for Glasscock 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 Otis Chalk ...
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 Spring
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
- Big Spring is located in Howard County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 28,077 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Big Spring <2>
- Elbow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west) - Garden City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Glasscock County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden City <2>
- Lees
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west) - Luther
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest) - Pecan Crossing
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pecan Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Crossing
- Pecan Crossing is located in Mitchell County
- Sand Springs
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sand Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Springs
- Sand Springs is located in Howard County
- Spade
(18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spade
- Spade is located in Mitchell County
How Far From Otis Chalk 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 Otis Chalk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Otis Chalk once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Otis Chalk and extending to:
- Big Spring, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<4> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Otis Chalk to Big Spring, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 244 miles [392.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,434 miles [2,307.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 56 days and walking would take 82 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,181 miles [11,556.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,925 miles [12,754.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,811 miles [9,351.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Otis Chalk, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Otis Chalk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Otis Chalk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1279, Longitude: -101.2573 In this case, the coordinates for Otis Chalk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Otis Chalk to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 322.902 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 319.902 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.764 degrees. |