The Beginning of a New Year

Before coming to Fallon, NV for the Family Medicine Rotation Justin and I had some major fears. The first being where the heck is Fallon, number two being what in the world are we going to do there for 3 months, and the last being how are we supposed to stay warm in the trailer with an average high in the low 30’s and lows in the high teens. We checked out the town via Google Earth and proceeded to get depressed. Go ahead, we dare you to Google Earth “Fallon, Nevada” and see what your first impression is. However, the Grad School Powers that Be decreed that Fallon is where we would spend Jan, Feb, and March so we reluctantly packed up the trailer, double checked we had snow chains (thanks Terri and Lew!) and warm winter clothes (thanks Scotty and Bill!) and headed out New Years Eve.

New Years Eve we passed through beautiful Donner Pass and got to Reno at dusk. We proceeded to head east another 1 hour until there was nothing but flat, cold, dark dirt everywhere. We began to be concerned. Eventually we stumbled upon the town of Fallon. It’s population is 8,000 and the city’s claim to fame is “The Oasis of Nevada.” When we pulled into the RV park we had our first encounter with a Fallon resident who said “Welcome to Fallon. It’s not as bad as you may have heard – we have a Walmart just down the road.” Awesome. So sure enough, New Years Eve we find ourselves at Walmart with what seems like ½ the population of Fallon. We proceed to buy $4 champagne and $0.77 frozen orange juice concentrate and we go back to the trailer, turn the heater up, and have mimosa toasts to our new home and the new year.