The Tortilla Factory on Greely Highway

My brother and I went to the Tortilla Factory on Greely Highway, and we were not impressed.

The buildling is not a purpose built restaurant. It's some concrete building turned into a restaurant. You enter from the back, and there you've got some tables set out on a thin brown carpet. There's some Mexican -style paintings on the walls, but the walls are definiately made of concrete blocks.

The kitchen has no door, so if you're sitting near enough, you can see right inside to watch your meal being cooked, if you want.

My brother thought the prices were reasonable, I thought they were pretty high considerng we weren't paying for any ambiance.

I had some kind of chicken...and unfortunately I can't remember the name. $10 and I found it inedible. My brother had chile relleno, and my brother is a connosieur of chile relleno. This chile relleno was like nothing he'd ever had before. He had a couple of bites and that was it. $20 for both meals, and that was with water to drink. (They sell no beer there - that was fine with me! I think they had sangria, though...)

In other words, we thought the food was horrible.

Now, to give the restaurant its due, we arrived at about 5.15, and there were a few people in there. As we sat and waited for our food, and as we ate, etc., people kept coming in and sitting down. It's apparently a pretty popular place.

So I guess there's no accounting for taste!

Wyoming Welcome Center on Highway 25: The Greeting and the Gift

Road down to the Wyoming Visitor Center. First line must be an old, "vintage" sign

And just in case you're not sure, a new sign


Wyoming Wildlife


The Visitor Center - will get a better photo on Monday.

If you drive North/South on Highway 25, it runs quite close to Cheyenne, as most highways do, of course. If you take Exit 269A, only a couple of miles from the Lincolnway Exit which gets you into downtown Cheyenne, there is a Wyoming Welcome Center there.

Now...I'm publishing this post on a Saturday, and the information I have to impart is not complete. I went there today, Saturday, and the place was closed. The sign on the door said only, Closed. So I don't know if its just closed for the weekend, or closed for the Winter season. (The door had no Open and Closing hours sign, which you thought would have been a good thing to have.)

So today, I'll just post a few photos, and Monday, I'll let you know just what its opening hours are.

Various attempts to take artistic compositions of The Greeting and the Gift sculpture. Even though the day was overcast, the camera didn't seem to take very good pictures, as if they were sunstruck.

The Greeting and the Gift Sculpture
A mountain man gives greeting - holding his hand over the top of his musket to signify it's harmless. The Native American offers a peace pipe.

Bowfire at Taco John's Event Center Tonight

While Cats is sold out, there are still tickets available for tonight's performance of Bowfire. Starts at 7.30, but of course as for any event you should be there at least 20 minutes early to get to your seat.

I'm not much in to classical violin music myself, but in addition to Classical they do other kinds, as see below.

Here's some info on it from WIkipedia.
Bowfire is a Canadian musical show featuring multiple violins, established in June 2000 by violinist and composer Lenny Solomon. They perform an eclectic mix of classical music, jazz, bluegrass music, celtic music, rock music, and world music.

In addition to the group's nine violinists/fiddlers, Bowfire also features Toronto-based erhu performer George Gao. One of the group's most popular compositions is "Fiddler in the Hood." They also perform covers of well known tunes such as Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir."

Formed in June 2000, Bowfire made its debut performance the following month at Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany. Audience response was wildly enthusiastic, and the group was subsequently invited to perform on the Governor-General's Awards telecast, the Canadian equivalent of the United States' Kennedy Center Honors.

The ensemble made its American debut in a series of performances during the summer of 2001 in New York City, and embarked on their first U.S. tour during the 2002-2003 season. In December 2003 Bowfire made its Asian debut with performances in Taiwan. Bowfire has enjoyed many highly successful touring seasons since then and is currently touring North America, with over 100 performance dates scheduled.

http://www.bowfire.com/

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men Gang Oft Agley....

Address: 148 Oak Street, just off College. It's a one way cul de sac, with a restaurant and some art stores, as well as this gallery.

Colorado Coalition of Artists

Colorado Coalition of Artists

Colorado Coalition of Artists

My sister and I drove down to Fort Collins this morning. Our purpose was to see the art exhibit that 2 of the people from my scrabble club had at the Colorado Coalition of Artists. What I didn't know was that the gallery was only open from Thursday to Saturday. (Or if I did know, I'd forgotten.)

So we walked a little ways to some kind of court that had three circular granite sculptures - to me they were a waste of space, but then I've always preferred representational art work. The library had been converted into an art museum, and we went in to see the last day of the Ansel Adams photograph exhibit. (I took photos of the first floor art, but was not allowed to take photos of the Adams photos - more on this museum tomorrow.)

On an adjacent building was a mural, and I took a photo of that. And there was a cat on a tree - not a lynx but some kind of large cat, but no plaque to explain what it was.

Will have to do research to give the appropriate attribution to all the buildings, and those also will be shared in future posts.


Mural on the building adjacent to the former library/Art Musuem

Ansel Adams exhibit

Save the day: 18-20 Mar: Home and Garden Show

Driving in to town today, I heard an advertisement for a Home & Garden Expo to take place at the Taco John's Event Center from 18-20 March, 2011. Admission is free.

Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.,
Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.,
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m

So I come home and try to find a webpage for it. It would make sense, wouldn't it, for this event to have a webpage, telling everyone what vendors would be there and so on?

Well, there is no website. I found a few sites that list the bare minimum of the show - no more than what I've got above...but nothing else.

Talk about a wasted opportunity!

What exactly is a Home and Garden show, eh? Are they going to have demonstrations of gardening equipment? Home equipment? Are big name vendors going to be there? Will there be a booklet advertising all these vendors, and can it be acquired even if one doesn't go to the show?

A website would say...should say...but this event doesn't have one.

Job News: Oil jobs flow into area

Wyoming News.com: Oil jobs flow into area
The industry has at least 49 job openings in Laramie County and more may be on the way as the Niobrara oil play develops.

By Josh Mitchell
jmitchell@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE -- Unemployed workers in this area may strike oil soon.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of oil industry jobs available in southeast Wyoming.

There are 49 job openings in the Laramie County oil fields, according to the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services.

Those jobs include truck drivers, laborers and heavy equipment operators, said Andrea Hixon, director of the local Workforce Center.

Tim Holliman of Cheyenne was at the Workforce Center on Tuesday looking on the computer for jobs in the oil and gas industry. He is doing odd jobs to make a living now but is trying to find some steady work.

With the jobs available in the oil field, he is optimistic he will find something soon.

Murray Lou Rex said she also is looking for a job in the oil field or the wind energy industry. She said she would consider working as a truck driver but would have to obtain her commercial driver's license.

A single mom, Rex said she has always been interested in the mining industry.

"I'm really thrilled that these types of income opportunities are coming to Cheyenne," she said.

She said job seekers in Cheyenne must be open to gaining new job skills if they want positions in the oil and gas industry.

In the past three months, Workforce Services has connected 28 people in Laramie County with oil and gas industry jobs. There could be more, however, because not all companies provide Workforce Services with information on job placements.

Anadarko Petroleum spokesman Brian Cain said, "We are optimistic that as the (oil) play develops, additional employment opportunities will follow."

However, Cain said his company is still in the early stages of the Niobrara oil play, and it is premature to speculate on potential job creation.

"As we continue to evaluate the play and potentially increase the number of rigs operating there in 2011, there will be opportunities, particularly for service providers ..."

Cain added that it is Anadarko's practice to hire locally when possible.

Hixon said she has seen some of her clients who have been out of work for extended periods finally land jobs because of the oil and gas industry.

And she thinks things are only going to get better.

"I think it will continue to increase," she said.

Joan Evans, director of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, agreed this is good news.

"This is an exciting time in southeast Wyoming because in the past couple of years, we've seen our job postings remain stagnant or be drastically down from years past," Evans said.

Evans said job seekers should not be discouraged if they do not have the necessary job skills. She encourages them to visit local Workforce Services centers to see if they qualify for training assistance and education.

The state's unemployment rate is 6.3 percent, and Laramie County's is 8.2 percent.

Hixon said there have been many people coming into her office looking for jobs in the industry.

Recently, Hixon's office had a job fair for an energy company, Legend Excavating, and 35 interviews were conducted. Other energy companies also have expressed interest in holding job fairs, she said.

She added that unemployed workers from other states are calling her office, asking when jobs may become available.

"I just think it's going to explode," Hixon said.

Cheyenne LEADS CEO Randy Bruns said it is too early to tell what the impact of the oil play will be on the local employment scene. LEADS is the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County.

If local workers want the jobs, they will have to acquire the specialized skills that are needed, Bruns noted, adding it is good that Laramie County Community College is here to provide job training.

Wyoming Word Gamers Club - Every Wednesday

Here's a plug for my Scrabble Club (aka the Wyoming Word Gamers Club) that meets every Wednesday in the Cheyenne Library.

6.30 pm, usually in the Sage Meeting room.

It's a lot of fun, so if you like to play Scrabble, be there or be square.

Check out the website at http://volcanoseven.com/WyomingWordGamersClub/

Snow, Snow Go Away!

I haven't accomplished much for my webzine: The Cheyenne Connecting Point lately.

THe last three days there's been snow everywhere, but it's mostly all gone now.

I have three Restaurant Reviews from my reviewer, The High Plains Driftin' Gourmet, but I haven't had time to upload them yet.

So much to do, so little time!

Carl's Jr.

View 1 of Carl's Jr. in Cheyenne, WY

View 2 of Carl's Jr. in Cheyenne, WY

Located on the corner of Warren Avenue and Lincolnway. (As you come across the bridge on Highway 85, it changes in to a one way road, Warren, and goes through the town (changing in to Yellowstone a little further along), before you hook up with Highway 85 again on the other side.

I stopped in a couple of days ago and had 3 hand-battered chicken tenders. I had wanted their Asian Sweet and Sour sauce, but they were out of it...though it was only about 5 pm. Indeed, they were out of most of their sauces. I assume that they hand-make all their sauces - I got honey mustard in little plastic cups, rather than in the pre-packaged sauce tiny bucket type things that McDonalds offerse, for example.

I took a photo of their poster for the Chicken Tenders - it's a tie in with the recently released Green Hornet movie.







Carl's From Wikipedia
Carl's Jr. is an American fast-food restaurant chain located in the Southern, Western, and Southwestern United States. It is also in the process of expanding into Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, Vietnam, and China.

It was founded in 1941 by Carl N. Karcher, and is owned by CKE Restaurants, Inc. Carl Karcher's business was jumpstarted with the opening of his first restaurant, Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque. As this grew wildly successful, he decided to open up smaller chains of Carl's. In 1954, he changed the name to Carl's Jr. and the fast-food chain took off. Combined with its sibling restaurant chain Hardee's, Carl's Jr. is the #4 US fast food burger chain in size after McDonald's (31,000+ locations), Burger King (11,500+ locations) and Wendy's (6,700+ locations).

HistoryCarl Karcher got his start in the food industry in 1941 by owning several food stands in Los Angeles, California, most notably on the corner of Florence and Central in South L.A. By 1945, Karcher owned a stand-alone restaurant in Anaheim, California called Carl's Drive-In Barbecue. In 1956, Karcher opened the first two Carl's Jr. restaurants in Anaheim, California and Brea, California; so named because they were a smaller version of his drive-in restaurant. The restaurant chain was characterized by its fast service and its logo, the bright yellow five-pointed Happy Star. CKE's other chain, Hardee's, now shares this logo, after a post-merge rebranding.

A Carl's Jr. in Rancho Cordova, CaliforniaIn 1981, with 300 restaurants in operation, Carl Karcher Enterprises became a publicly held company. In 1988, Carl and his family were accused of insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. They had sold large quantities of stock before the price dropped. Carl agreed to a settlement with the SEC and paid more than half a million dollars in fines.

The late 1980s and 1990s brought trouble early-on and success later. Carl's Jr. chains had struggled to gain success in Arizona and Texas, perhaps diminishing hopes of expansion to other states, though later states like Nevada, Oregon and Washington proved successful. During the 1990s Karcher and the Board of Directors began clashing over marketing and business practices, including the chain's attempt at dual branding with such chains as The Green Burrito, which led to Karcher's ousting as Chief Executive Officer in 1993. Soon after, the Board of Directors took a new approach by cutting the menu, lowering prices, and introducing a new marketing campaign which targeted younger urban and suburban males. During this time, commercials for Carl's Jr. featured an animated caricature of Carl Karcher and the chain's mascot, Happy Star.

During the mid-1990s, Carl's Jr. unveiled its "If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face" campaign which featured younger people eating Carl's Jr.'s burgers with ketchup and juice dripping from the burger and onto clothes and other areas. Among its famous figures, NBA great Dennis Rodman was also featured in a famous ad in which one of his tattoos is seen eating a burger. Karcher admitted he was heartbroken by the new campaign which contrasted starkly with his conservative views.

Carl's Jr. quickly expanded, and currently has more than 1,000 locations in 13 U.S. states, as well as in Mexico, Singapore and Russia. In 2007, five new branches were opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, located at 1-Utama Shopping Complex, Midvalley Megamall, Sunway Pyramid, Mines Shopping Fair and the new Pavilion KL Shopping Complex is the first branch they opened for their comeback. In total, there have been seven branches in Malaysia. The Masjid Jamek branch, Ampang Park branch and the Lake Gardens branch were closed in 1998.

Featured food items include the Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger and the Six Dollar Burger, so called because it is claimed to be of the same quality of a burger one would pay six dollars for in a sit-down restaurant. In May 2005, Carl's Jr. introduced "The Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" in a controversial advertising campaign.

In 1997, CKE Restaurants acquired Hardee's, a restaurant chain with 2,500 locations in the Midwest, South and East Coast regions. Hardee's restaurants are gradually being converted to be more like Carl's Jr. with some of the same menu items and even adopting the same star logo. The chain has also opened at least one restaurant in a former Rally's location in Hollywood with a drive-thru lane, walk-up window and no interior seating. This location carries the branding Carl's Jr. Jr.

In 2002, CKE Restaurants, Inc. acquired Santa Barbara Restaurant Group (the parent company of the Green Burrito brand). Some Carl's Jr. stores are now co-branded as Green Burrito locations. Three Carl's Jr. locations in downtown Los Angeles serve beer: Macy's Plaza on 7th & Flower, California Mart at Main & Olympic, and Citigroup Plaza at 5th & Flower.

In 2004, Carl's Jr. was portrayed in the film Idiocracy as the dominant fast food franchise in a dystopian future.

In October 2006, Carl's Jr. and sister-company Hardee's introduced a promotion with The Palms Casino Hotel to sell a $6,000 Combo Meal exclusively at The Palms. This meal includes the signature Six Dollar Burger, fries, and a $6,000 bottle of French Bordeaux. This meal is available on the Palms room service menu.

In 2008, Carl's Jr. eventually expanded into American Samoa, alongside fellow competitors McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut and Checkers.

On January 11, 2008, Carl Karcher, the founder of hamburger chain Carl's Jr., died at the age of 90. A spokeswoman for CKE Restaurants said Mr. Karcher suffered from Parkinson's disease and was being treated for Parkinson's-related pneumonia when he died at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, California. Many Carl's Jr. restaurants flew their flags at half staff in memory of Karcher.

In February 2009, CKE Restaurants announced that Texas would be their top growth market for the next five years. Franchisee deals were made with two companies to open Carl's Jr. locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston markets. The franchisees plan to open 193 new restaurants in Texas over the next 10 years. Carl's Jr. had initially expanded into Texas in 1984, but due to the poor state economy most locations never met sales expectations. By 1987, Carl's Jr. had temporarily pulled out of Texas entirely closing approximately 36 locations. Another attempt to bring the chain to Texas was attempted in the 1990s.

Co-branding
Carl's Jr and Green Burrito restaurant in Bell, CaliforniaIn several Western U.S. locations, Carl's Jr. parent CKE has begun operating co-branded restaurants with its Green Burrito group. This is a similar strategy used by Yum! Brands with its KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W Restaurants, and Long John Silvers concepts to help expand brands without the additional expense of new buildings and land.

Taco de Carlos was a fast-food Mexican restaurant chain that spun off from Carl's Jr. In 1972 Carl Karcher Enterprises decided to get in on the Mexican fast-food business because it was a new phenomenon that was proving successful with Taco Bell going public just a few years earlier. Taco de Carlos offered menu items not found on Taco Bell, like the California Burrito, with the green chili, and the Machaca Burrito.

It also served up the standard Carl's Jr. burgers. Some of the Taco de Carlos locations opened next door to a Carl's Jr. By the end of the 1970s Taco de Carlos had 17 locations. Carl Karcher Enterprises could never muster up enough business attention for Taco de Carlos, and the taco chain found itself in financial distress. Meanwhile, the bigger names like Taco Bell, Del Taco, Naugles, and Pup-n-Taco were enjoying success.

In the early 1980s Carl Karcher Enterprises sold off most of its Taco de Carlos locations to Del Taco, and the rest to other buyers. In 1988, after strengthening the Carl's Jr. brand, they decided to try their luck again with fast-food Mexican fare, and struck up a co-branding deal with Green Burrito.