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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 Sheeks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sheeks 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 Sheeks:
- 29.981330, -94.975204
- 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 Sheeks
- 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 Liberty County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Liberty County
- Since Sheeks is near Harris County and also Chambers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Harris County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Chambers 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 Sheeks
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sheeks ...
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.
- Gum Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Gum Grove is located in Liberty County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Grove
- Happy Hideaway
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Happy Hideaway is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hideaway
- Heathergate
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Heathergate is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heathergate
- Hidden Echo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Hidden Echo is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Echo
- Ladd
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Ladd is located in Liberty County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ladd
- Magnolia Gardens
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Magnolia Gardens is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Gardens
- Martha
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Martha is located in Liberty County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martha
- Tall Cedars
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Tall Cedars is located in Harris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Cedars
How Far From Sheeks 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 Sheeks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Sheeks and extending to:
- Liberty, which is the Seat of Liberty County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sheeks to Liberty, with an average speed<2> 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 166 miles [267.2 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,189 miles [1,913.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 68 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,060 miles [11,362 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,780 miles [12,520.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,656 miles [9,102.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sheeks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Sheeks 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 Sheeks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.9813, Longitude: -94.9752 In this case, the coordinates for Sheeks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.369 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.281 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.172 degrees. |
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