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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 Point Blank, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Point Blank 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 Point Blank:
- 30.745766, -95.213035
- 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 Point Blank
- 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 San Jacinto County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for San Jacinto County
- Since Point Blank is near Polk County and also Trinity County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Polk County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Trinity 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 Point Blank
Curious and Interesting Names Near Point Blank ...
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.
- Coldspring
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Dodge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Evergreen
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Snow Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Snow Hill is located in San Jacinto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Tigerville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Tigerville is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tigerville
- Tobacco Patch
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Tobacco Patch is located in Polk County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tobacco Patch
- Waterwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Waterwood is located in San Jacinto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterwood
- Willow Springs
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Willow Springs is located in San Jacinto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
- Wolf Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Wolf Creek is located in San Jacinto County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek
How Far From Point Blank 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 city such as Point Blank to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Point Blank and extending to:
- Coldspring, which is the Seat of San Jacinto County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Point Blank to Coldspring, 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 154 miles [247.8 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,170 miles [1,882.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 46 days and walking would take 67 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,030 miles [11,313.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,754 miles [12,478.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,629 miles [9,059 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- Point Blank) 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 Point Blank 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 Point Blank. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.7458, Longitude: -95.2130 |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.63 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.687 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.192 degrees. |
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