For fun this evening, my friend and I (I suppose in anticipation of the upcoming Star Wars movie in May) were web searching to see if we could learn more about George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch. Before long, we had exact latitude and longitude, and were gazing down upon the rooftop of Lucas's main Victorian-style ranch house not far from Ewok Lake.

Here's the Google Maps link that should take you to what we were observing:Notice that the URL makes use of the latitude and longitude coordinates (38.061855 degrees north latitude, -122.643728 degrees west longitude).

I wouldn't post coordinates like this on the web for Joe Average's house, because I wouldn't want to violate his privacy. George Lucas's privacy remains protected, however, by his Skywalker Ranch security personnel, so I don't think his privacy is negatively impacted, since not just anyone can drive right up to his house, in contrast to Joe Average who usually doesn't have a security force, nor a gatehouse to keep unwanted visitors away.

I later stumbled across the Thunder Ridge Boy Scout Camp in Southwestern Utah while scrolling around with Google's satellite maps. I didn't know where I was at at first, but the layout of the road and the valley looked familiar. The more I checked out the area, the more sure I was, this was where I remember camping out as a kid during several different summers with the Boy Scouts. The mountain camp is near Brian Head, the highest peak in Southwestern Utah, and also where my youngest brother and youngest sister went snowboarding this past winter. (I hear there's still ten feet of snow atop the mountains in that area even in mid April.)

Let me finish with a few more Google Maps links:

• Utah State Capitol Building (Quite a blurry image, ugh.)
• St. George, Utah L.D.S. Temple
• Dixie State College of Utah (Another St. George, Utah site—The coordinates are for the Encampment Mall monument in the middle of the campus.)
• A few places in Michigan where I once lived.