RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Harris County >> Westways >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Westways:
    • 29.834300, -95.553100
    • 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 Westways
  • 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 Harris County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harris County
    • Since Westways is near Fort Bend County and also Waller County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fort Bend County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Waller 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 Westways

Curious and Interesting Names Near Westways ...

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.

  • City of Spring Valley Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Forest Pine
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Forest Pine is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Pine
  • Frosttown ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Frosttown is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frosttown
  • Gay Wood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Gay Wood is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gay Wood
  • Hennessey
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hennessey is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hennessey
  • Memorial Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Memorial Grove is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Grove
  • Memorial Hollow
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Memorial Hollow is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Hollow
  • Memorial Pines
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Memorial Pines is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Pines
  • Memorial Plaza
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Memorial Plaza is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Memorial Plaza
  • Monarch Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Monarch Oaks is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monarch Oaks
  • Royal Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Royal Oaks is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oaks
  • Rustling Oaks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rustling Oaks is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rustling Oaks
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Shadow Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Shadow Oaks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shadow Oaks
    • Spring Meadows
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Spring Meadows is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Meadows
    • Spring Oaks
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Oaks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Oaks
    • Spring Shadows
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Spring Shadows is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Shadows
    • Spring Valley
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Valley is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Timber Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Timber Oaks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Oaks
    • Woodland Oaks
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodland Oaks is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Oaks
    • Woodland Trails North
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Yorkshire
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Yorkshire is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorkshire

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

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

  • Houston, which is the Seat of Harris County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Westways to Houston, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 134 miles [215.7 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,223 miles [1,968.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 48 days and walking would take 70 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,091 miles [11,411.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,812 miles [12,572.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,688 miles [9,153.9 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Westways) 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 Westways 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 Westways. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.8343, Longitude: -95.5531       In this case, the coordinates for Westways have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.719 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.674 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.427 degrees.