Tag Archives: Virginia Dale

I set out on the road to find an abandoned town yesterday and kinda failed, but did stumble across some pretty cool places!
As I was driving north towards Wyoming, looking for Virginia Dale and all of the creepy shuttered glory I was hoping for, I saw a sign that said “ABBEY” that pointed left.
The Abbey of St. Walburga is a convent located just south of the border of Wyoming. The nuns there spend their days in prayer and meditation.
They also raise cattle. There was a box on the front bench with some of the fresh mozzarella and a donation box. Unfortunately, since I wasn’t planning on stumbling across an Abbey that sold fresh meat and cheese, my car was void of a chill box, but I definitely plan on going back up soon to try some!
The bells, surrounded by snow covered mountains.

This place is truly a hidden gem. The sisters walking through the halls offered to let us join in on the daily prayers as they passed into the church.
We kindly declined and perused the grounds before hopping back in the car and heading south.
The Virginia Dale exit was directly across the way from the Abbey, but I was unable to find the bullet-ridden signs and abandoned homesteads that the websites promised.
I did, however, find the old post office that has been shuttered for years. No trespassing this time since there was a house directly behind. Sniff.
A little ways down the road we came across a small white church and pulled off for more pictures.
The doors were unlocked, so I let myself in to explore the small room.
The original church burned down in 2003, but they’ve rebuilt since and still have regular services on Sundays.
Some old relics from the original church.
The church, like the town and the Abbey, are surrounded by mountains with no sight of any other housing, or people, in sight.
A small cemetery sits right next to the church.
Some of the graves are a bit more well-kept than others.

There are a handful of headstones that simply have names that are just barely etched in and fading with time and weather.
It was getting later in the day and we had yet to feed ourselves, so we jumped back on the road and drove south to Fort Collins to check out Gravity 1020, Fort Collin’s Brewery’s attached restaurant.
I warmed up with the porter on nitro and paired it with their East Coast Rep – prime rib, caramelized onions, cheddar and horseradish aioli with a side of pastrami mac ‘n cheese. Holy. Drool.
We shouldn’t have. We really, really shouldn’t have, but how can you say no to at least trying one of these desserts?
The Cake and Shake. The pumpkin spice cake wasn’t as soft and delicate as I was hoping, but the flavor was still warm and spicy. The shake had Red Banshee in it and was a little odd with the bitterness, but rounded out well with the butter pecans.
It was an exhausting and unexpected day, but the perfect way to break up the week.