As predicted, the pastrami at Langer's Deli in L.A. was excellent. It had a smokier flavor than Katz's (though I wouldn't call it better, just different), but the rye bread far, far exceeded that of the New York institution. It was also great not to have to elbow through five hundred tourists to place an order.
One of our many stops in the Los Angeles area was the inaccurately named Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. It is a stunning sight, though in the end, not quite to my taste in religious architecture.