Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Phalba:
  • 32.423752, -95.977746
  • 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 Phalba

• 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 Van Zandt County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Van Zandt County
  • Since Phalba is near Henderson County and also Kaufman County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Henderson County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Kaufman 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 Phalba

Curious and Interesting Names Near Phalba ...

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 Rock
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Big Rock is located in Henderson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Rock
• Enchanted Oaks
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Enchanted Oaks is located in Henderson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Oaks
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
• Gun Barrel City
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Gun Barrel City is located in Henderson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gun Barrel City
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,309 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gun Barrel City <1>
• Holly Springs
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Holly Springs is located in Van Zandt County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
• Martins Mill
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Martins Mill is located in Van Zandt County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martins Mill
• Pickens
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Pickens is located in Henderson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickens
• Prairieville
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Prairieville is located in Kaufman County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairieville
• Tundra
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Tundra is located in Van Zandt County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tundra
• Wise
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Wise is located in Van Zandt County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise

How Far From Phalba 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 Phalba to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Phalba and extending to:

• Canton, which is the Seat of Van Zandt County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Phalba to Canton, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
• Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 181 miles [291.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,149 miles [1,849.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 45 days and walking would take 66 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,972 miles [11,220.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,703 miles [12,396.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,580 miles [8,980.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'