Need description of the Fallon/Sand Mt area (high school, shop)

[jmpdk3]

Can you describe the Fallon (including the Fallon NAS) area to me?

I'm writing a book and have my character there for a short time. I think I have a sense for it from info gathered off the net but having never actually been there myself, I'd like a local's description. I don't need the town, just the area.

Am I right to say it is in the Lahontan Valley? And there are alkali flats there? What's it like to walk on these? (do they crunch? I'm from MO and we aint got no alkali flats 'round here.) Google Earth shows a mt terrain, is it rock or ??? Is it all desert or is there vegetation? I know the heat is dry, so do you sweat, as in dripping? Is it the kind of heat that drys your mouth?

And Sand Mountain... Are people constantly 4 wheeling there? I heard the sand makes noise (sings). Does this happen on its own or just when you swipe your foot across it? Walk across it? Does the sand blow with the wind? I read that it's windy there. Does the sand get too hot to walk on like at a beach? What's the area smell like? Anything? Do you feel gritty or covered in dirt after a day there (I'm sure sandy but is it a dusty sand, dry sand, etc)?

As you can tell, I'm looking for specific info-so I can get it right and no one calls me on it. I want the reader to think I've been there.


Thanks! You can email me privately if you want-I know I've asked a lot.

Best wishes,
Jane
jmpdk3@go.com


mod cut: reference to cross post deleted

[am22reno]

Fallon isn't like most other parts in Nevada. It's known as "Nevada's Oasis" because part of the Truckee River was diverted there by the Derby Dam to irrigate the alfalfa and hay they grow there. The Fallon High School mascott is the "Green Wave", named after what one might see when the wind blows over the alfalfa fields. One thing about them is that it's interesting to see the thick fields abruptly give way to stark desert.
It does get hot there in the summer, but it's not brutal like Vegas. The town itself is quaint with older, somewhat sparsely seperated buildings and "shoppes". There isn't really any alkali flats there since that particular area was never under water.
The air there smells clean and earthy at the same time. If you were to spend a day outdoors in Fallon you would probably get somewhat dusty...

I hope this helped, ask if you have any more questions!

[NVDave]

East of NAS Fallon, and south of Sand Mountain, there is a huge salt flat. You drive through it as you drive east on US-50.

It is one of the features that contributes to the formation of Sand Mountain.