Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Van Zandt

• 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 Van Zandt:
  • 48.789004, -122.191824
  • 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 Van Zandt

• 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 Van Zandt 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 Van Zandt

Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Zandt ...

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
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Acme is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acme
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Acme <1>
• Cedarville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedarville is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
• Clipper
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Clipper is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clipper
• Geneva
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Geneva is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
• Mirror Lake
  (8 miles [12.9 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 west)
  • Noon is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noon
• Standard Crossing
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Standard Crossing is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Standard Crossing
• Sudden Valley
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Sudden Valley is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sudden Valley
• Sunnyside
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Sunnyside is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
• Welcome
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Welcome is located in Whatcom County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome

How Far From Van Zandt to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Van Zandt to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

• Bellingham, which is the Seat of Whatcom County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Van Zandt to Bellingham, 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.
• Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 125 miles [201.2 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 8 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,312 miles [3,720.8 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 6,694 miles [10,772.9 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 7,455 miles [11,997.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,587 miles [8,991.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'