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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 Vandyke, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vandyke 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 Vandyke:
- 31.972367, -98.560881
- 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 Vandyke
- 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 Comanche County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Comanche County
- Since Vandyke is near Erath County and also Brown County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Erath County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Brown 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 Vandyke
Communities Also Named Vandyke ...
We found four communities that are also named Vandyke.
Within Texas, the name Vandyke is unique.
Beyond Texas, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Delaware
- New Castle County
- This Vandyke is located in New Castle County and lies 1,372 miles [2,208 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vandyke that is located in Comanche County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the New Castle County community of Vandyke.
- Kentucky
- Anderson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Vandyke [Anderson County].
- Pennsylvania
- Juniata County
- This Vandyke is located in Juniata County and lies 1,318 miles [2,121.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vandyke that is located in Comanche County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Juniata County community of Vandyke.
- Virginia
- Buchanan County
- This Vandyke is located in Buchanan County and lies 1,009 miles [1,623.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Vandyke that is located in Comanche County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buchanan County community of Vandyke.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vandyke ...
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.
- Blanket
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Comanche
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cottonwood
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Cottonwood is located in Erath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
- Dublin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Duster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Duster is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
- Edna Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Edna Hill is located in Erath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edna Hill
- Hazeldell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Hazeldell is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazeldell
- Highland
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Highland is located in Erath County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland
- Stag Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Stag Creek is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stag Creek
How Far From Vandyke 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 Vandyke to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vandyke and extending to:
- Comanche, which is the Seat of Comanche County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 127 miles [204.4 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Vandyke to Austin, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,297 miles [2,087.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 51 days and walking would take 74 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,093 miles [11,415.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,829 miles [12,599.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,709 miles [9,187.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Vandyke) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Vandyke could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Vandyke 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 Vandyke. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.9724, Longitude: -98.5609 In this case, the coordinates for Vandyke have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 321.02 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.657 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.535 degrees. |
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