RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Whatcom County >> Standard Crossing >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Standard Crossing, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Standard Crossing 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 Standard Crossing:
    • 48.745114, -122.201825
    • 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 Standard Crossing
  • 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 Whatcom County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Whatcom County
    • Since Standard Crossing is near Skagit County and also San Juan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Skagit County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Juan 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 Standard Crossing

Curious and Interesting Names Near Standard Crossing ...

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.

  • Acme
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Cedarville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Cedarville is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
  • Clipper
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Clipper is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper
  • Dewey
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Dewey is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
  • Forest Ridge
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Forest Ridge is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Ridge
  • Geneva
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Mirror Lake
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Mirror Lake is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mirror Lake
  • Noon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Noon is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noon
  • Prairie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Prairie is located in Skagit County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie
  • Silver Beach
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Silver Beach is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Beach
  • Sudden Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
  • Sunnyside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Sunnyside is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
  • Welcome
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Welcome is located in Whatcom County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome

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

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

  • Bellingham, which is the Seat of Whatcom County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Standard Crossing to Bellingham, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 122 miles [196.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,313 miles [3,722.4 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,697 miles [10,777.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,458 miles [12,002.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,590 miles [8,996.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<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- Standard Crossing) 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 Standard Crossing 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 Standard Crossing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.7451, Longitude: -122.2018       In this case, the coordinates for Standard Crossing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.815 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 342.419 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 327.581 degrees.