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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 River Spur, we use the following websites to find information relevant to River Spur 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 River Spur:
- 28.660814, -99.803110
- 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 River Spur
- 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 Zavala County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Zavala County
- Since River Spur is near Dimmit County and also Frio County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Dimmit County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Frio 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 River Spur
Curious and Interesting Names Near River Spur ...
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.
- Bushy Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Bushy Creek is located in Zavala County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushy Creek
- Bushy Creek has also been known as:
- Bushy Creek Colonia
- Crystal City
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Popeye Lake
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Popeye Lake is located in Zavala County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Popeye Lake
- Popeye Lake has also been known as:
- Popeye Lake Colonia
- Valley Wells
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Valley Wells is located in Dimmit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Wells
- Winter Haven
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Winter Haven is located in Dimmit County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winter Haven
How Far From River Spur 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 River Spur to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in River Spur and extending to:
- Crystal City, which is the Seat of Zavala County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 166 miles [267.2 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could drive a straight line from River Spur to Austin, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,479 miles [2,380.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 58 days and walking would take 84 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,317 miles [11,775.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,048 miles [12,952 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,925 miles [9,535.4 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- River Spur) 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 River Spur 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 River Spur. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.6608, Longitude: -99.8031 In this case, the coordinates for River Spur have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.33 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.613 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.316 degrees. |
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