Mal and Lauren

Rancho Los Alamitos, Long Beach, California, USA

October 10, 2025

A few weeks ago we visited Rancho Los Cerritos, which is near to our house. Also nearby is Rancho Los Alamitos, one of the other five ranchos formed when the Rancho Los Nieto, which had been awarded to Manuel Nieto in 1784, was split among his heirs after his death. So we picked Sofie and Emma up from their school which is just up the road from the Rancho and went for a visit.

Rancho Los Alamitos translates to ranch of the little cottonwoods, referencing the native trees that grow in the area. By the early 1850s, it had become the largest cattle ranch in the United States, raising vast herds to supply beef during the California Gold Rush. If you visit Long Beach, you can’t help to notice the Bixby name as at one time the family owned much of the land in the area, including this ranch. In 1967 the family donated the ranch’s core historic property, including the ranch house, barns and surrounding gardens to the City of Long Beach and in 1981 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The gardens were designed by three of America’s most famous landscape designers of the twentieth century, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Florence Yoch and Lucile Council.

Bixby Knolls, Long Beach, California, USA

October 6, 2025

In the early 1940s, Long Beach experienced a surge in defense-related employment, notably with the establishment of the Douglas Aircraft Company at Long Beach Municipal Airport in 1940. This facility became a key production center for military aircraft during World War II. The influx of workers necessitated the development of new housing to accommodate them. We walked by some of that housing and it did not look much different than we imagine it did when first built.

Adding to the nostalgic vibe of the neighborhood were these two classic vans

Our walk took us to the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery which contains a beautiful mausoleum that was built in 1924-25. It is a very Spanish style beautiful building. We struck up conversation with a passer-by who goes for regular walks around the mausoleum and surround cemetery. Allan acted as our guide, showing up points of interest. It was a little eerie walking down endless marble corridors surrounded on all sides by dead people.

Among the dead is a Foucault pendulum. Named after its inventor, the French physicist, Leon Foucault, the pendulum was conceived to demonstrate the earth’s rotation. By hanging a long and heavy pendulum from a high roof above a circular area, the plane of the oscillation appears to change as the earth rotates. In other words, although the pendulum is only swinging in one direction, the earth is rotating underneath it, making it look as though the pendulum is swinging in different directions as the day progresses. So when we were there in the early afternoon, the pendulum was swinging toward hour 15 of the 24 hour clock. Supposedly, if we came back a couple of hours later the pendulum would be swinging toward hour 17 of the clock, despite the fact that the pendulum would be swinging on the same arc.

Because of its large Hispanic population and widespread Spanish architecture, it’s easy to imagine in Southern California that you are, in fact, in neighboring Mexico. This is particularly the case when you stop into a Gonzalez supermarket, where most of the signage is in Spanish and the goods are targeted toward its Hispanic customers. With its cheerful colors and immaculate presentation it is definitely one of the nicest supermarkets we have entered.

Solvang / Cold Spring Tavern, California, USA

September 27, 2025

Out in the middle of California is a little bit of Denmark. Between 1865 and 1914, 300,000 Danes immigrated to the United States. Three of those Danes acquired almost 9,000 acres near Santa Barbara and in 1911 they established Solvang (Danish for sunny field). The developers brought in Danish settlers from as far away as Iowa and Nebraska and set about building a village in Danish style architecture. The early settlement had a store, bank, lumber yard, barbershop and post office. A school was opened that taught a Danish and American curriculum. From what we could see, today the town appears to mainly cater to tourists who have a fondness for baked goods and beer.

By the 1860s, a road had been constructed across the San Marcos Pass from Santa Barbara to the Santa Ynez valley and Cold Spring Tavern was established as a stagecoach stop in 1865. Originally known as the “Cold Spring Relay Station”, it was a horse changeover and meals break station. Now the tavern is a popular spot to get a meal, a drink and to enjoy some live music. Tucked into forested hills it was almost like being back on the east coast, particularly when a light rain began to fall.

San Luis Obispo, California, USA

September 26, 2015

San Luis Obispo (often known simply as SLO) is a city of about 50,000 and is the home of California Polytechnic State University. It is named after San Luis, Obispo de Talosa (Saint Louis, bishop of Toulouse). Louis (1274-1297) was the second son of King Charles II of Naples, but having been placed under the care of Franciscan friars for his education, he gave up all his claims to his inheritance, taking the Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He was named Bishop of Toulouse at the age of 22 and gained a reputation for serving the poor, feeding the hungry and ignoring his own needs. However, after only six months he had abandoned the position of Bishop and within the year had died, possibly of typhoid.

We spent the afternoon strolling around the downtown area and checking out the Mission and SLO art museum.

One of the town’s most well known attractions is Gum Alley.

The Mission was founded in 1772. It’s not as large as the Mission in Santa Barbara but still very beautiful.

Next to the Mission is the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. It is a small museum with only three rooms of exhibits while we were there.

We liked the exhibition Little by Little by Trish Andersen, an immersive textile exhibition which, according to the museum guide, explores the importance of patience, presence and persistence.

We also liked this painting by Philip Guston, called Cigar and painted in 1969. It reflects and criticizes the KKK members he saw while growing up in Southern California. We think of the Klan being associated with the south but white extremists have a long history in California. The state had about 200,000 Klan members in the 1920s and there are a number of white supremacist groups that are still active throughout the state.

Central Coast, California, USA

September 25, 2025

After the Spanish style buildings of Santa Barbara, Cambria was decidedly western. In fact, it reminded us quite a lot of Winter Park, the small ski town where we met in Colorado.

Our original intent had been to follow the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) all the way up to Carmel, but it has been closed for almost three years, due to a slip and isn’t due to open until March of next year. So we drove as far north as Salmon Creek Falls, where we went for a short hike.

This pretty greenstone (probably serpentinite) would have been ideal for some maori carving.

And then we returned down the coast for lunch at Ragged Point. Along the way, we checked out the dramatic views from the road.

We weren’t staying at Ragged Point but wished we were. Sitting on a high point, there are spectacular views from the guest cottages that line the cliff.

From Ragged Point we drove down out of the misty hills into the sunshine of Hearst Memorial Beach in San Simeon. San Simeon is most famous as the home of Hearst Castle, the palatial hilltop home of William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon. The castle and Hearst’s lifestyle were satirized by Orion Welles in his classic 1941 movie, Citizen Kane. We had been to the castle before so didn’t revisit, opting instead to go for a walk along the beach that was part of the Hearst ranch.

Sitting by the beach is the Hearst Ranch Winery, providing one of the more scenic spots in the world to sit and enjoy and glass of wine.

This little church reminded us of the one at Parkiri Beach in New Zealand. If you look closely, you can see the Hearst Castle behind it, high on the top of the hill.

Our last stop of the day was at the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery. A friendly volunteer shared some fascinating information about the seals. Elephant seals spend most of their life at sea but twice a year they come out onto the rookery (a place where animals breed and give birth). For the couple of months they are on land they are very social but at sea they lead mostly solitary lives. The females head out into the middle of the Pacific where they feed on small fish and squid. They can dive as deep as over 5,000 feet (1,700 meters) and can stay under water for up to two hours. The males head up toward Alaska, staying closer to shore, eating rays and crabs and octupuses and other bottom feeders.

Santa Barbara, California, USA

September 24, 2025

Santa Barbara was our first stop on our trip north along the California coast. It is a very pretty city. We started our exploration by walking along the palm lined beach.

And then out onto Stearns Wharf. It was originally built in 1872 but facing a number of disasters, including an earthquake in 1925 and a fire in 1973, it has been through a number of extensive renovations. Currently, it is the home of shops, restaurants and a museum.

There was also this classic Chevrolet Malibu, named for the famous beach town just down the coast.

The views back to town were stunning. The palm lined beach and fog shrouded hills were a little reminiscent of Tahiti.

From the wharf, we walkedtoward the nearby Funk Zone, which includes a number of cool little bars, cafes and boutiques.

And then we made our way up State Street, the city’s main shopping street. Closed to traffic and lined with beautifully maintained Spanish style buildings, it is definitely one of the prettiest shopping streets we’ve walked along in our travels.

If, like us, you are gelato fans, you’ll definitely want to visit Tondi Gelato. The gelato, made in the store, is some of the best that we have ever tasted.

We then walked up through a beautiful park and lovely surrounding neighborhood to the old Mission.

The Mission Santa Barbara was founded on December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara, who according to legend was beheaded by her father for following the Christian faith.

In the late afternoon, we headed toward our next stop, Cambria. Along the way, we stopped in the little and decidedly western town of Los Olivos. If you’re in the market for a pair of cowboy boots, then Jedlicka’s might just be the place for you.

We arrived in Cambria just in time for the magnificent sunset.

California Heights, Long Beach, California, USA

September 22, 2025

Our friend Nick is visiting, so we decided to take him on a walk through the neighborhood where we live. California Heights is Long Beach’s largest historic neighborhood with nearly 1,500 homes built in the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly in Spanish Colonial Revival style. Here is a sampling of some of the neighborhood homes.

This home had a pomegranate tree, something we hadn’t seen before

While this homeowner appeared to have a particular antipathy toward female dogs. Apparently, male dogs can pee wherever they like.

Seal Beach, California, USA

September 19, 2025

Seal Beach is in Orange County just south of Long Beach. It is a charming town with one of the widest beaches we have ever seen. So wide that the ships lined up offshore, waiting to get into the Port of Long Beach, appeared to be sitting on the sand.

The beach is lined with large homes.

The houses not on the beachfront aren’t quite as elaborate. Some maintain that old beach town feel.

The Main Street is very quaint.

With a local navy base and a number of evangelical churches, the town is unsurprisingly conservative. All of the stores we went into were playing country music and one store had the following sign outside.

Any doubts we have had over the political inclinations of the town were removed by the merchandise in this store.

Here is the classic car of the day.

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, Long Beach, California, USA

September 11, 2025

On the campus of California State University Long Beach, this pretty Japanese garden was opened in 1981. It has everything you’d expect from a traditional Japanese garden, including a beautiful pond

With bridges and viewing platforms

It is stocked with over a thousand koi

There were also waterfalls and fountains

a tea house

A zen garden

and bonsai trees

Crystal Cove, California, USA

August 28, 2025

Located between Newport Beach to the north and Laguna Beach to the south, Crystal Cove State Park stretches for just over three miles along the coast. Sitting below cliffs, it is for the most part not visible from the Pacific Coast Highway (locally known as the PCH) that runs along next to it. The Park includes a historic district where over forty 1920s beach cottages have been preserved and can be rented (demand is high, however, so you first need to win a lottery). Many of the cottages reminded us of classic New Zealand baches. There is also a restaurant on the beach called Beachcomber which has excellent food in a fantastic location.

One thing that we hadn’t realized about California until spending more time here is that on any given night you can head to the beach and be treated to a spectacular sunset.