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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 Blue Oaks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Oaks 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 Blue Oaks:
- 38.820113, -77.308040
- 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 Blue Oaks
- 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 Fairfax County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
- Since Blue Oaks is near Fairfax City and also Prince William County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax City
- Open the eBird sighting report for Prince William 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 Blue Oaks
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Oaks ...
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.
- Butts Corner
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Butts Corner is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butts Corner
- Donovans Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Donovans Corner is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donovans Corner
- Doveville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Doveville is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doveville
- Fair Oaks
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Fair Oaks is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Oaks
- Five Forks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Five Forks is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Forks
- Green Acres
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Green Acres is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Greenway Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Greenway Hills is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway Hills
- Holly Park
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Holly Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Park
- Homewood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Homewood is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
- Hunts Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Hunts Village is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunts Village
- Joyce Heights
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Joyce Heights is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce Heights
- Kings Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Kings Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Park
- Continue List (12 more) ...
- Lee Forest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Lee Forest is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Forest
- Lee Meadows
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Lee Meadows is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Meadows
- Lee-Hi Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lee-Hi Village is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee-Hi Village
- Lewis Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lewis Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis Park
- Lincoln Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Lincoln Park is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- Little River Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Little River Hills is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River Hills
- Maple Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Maple Hills is located in Fairfax City
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Hills
- Random Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Random Hills is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Random Hills
- Red Fox Forest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Red Fox Forest is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Fox Forest
- Sideburn
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Sideburn is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sideburn
- Station Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Station Hills is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Station Hills
- Willow Woods
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Willow Woods is located in Fairfax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Woods
How Far From Blue Oaks 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 Blue Oaks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Blue Oaks and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Blue Oaks to Richmond, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 15 miles [24.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take most of a day.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,912 miles [9,514.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,618 miles [10,650.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,494 miles [7,232.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blue Oaks) 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 Blue Oaks 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 Blue Oaks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8201, Longitude: -77.3080 In this case, the coordinates for Blue Oaks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.054 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.614 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.858 degrees. |
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