When city life gets to be too much:  traffic, noise, street people, dirt, I hop on a bus. It was one of those days so I headed for the 1 California, riding it to the end of the line. Since this is San Francisco, that’s really not so far. Just about 25 minutes. But it’s a different world.

I started at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, the museum that sits on the point of the city overlooking the bay. The current exhibit was Houghton Hall, a pretentious showing of furnishings from a country manor owned by the Walpole family, that I found less than interesting and having nothing to do with living in a city with natural treasures. Ten minutes max and I was out the door and into that different world.

A public golf course abuts the museum.

I’m not a fan of golf courses, but this one has no choice but to follow the crazy cliff terrain filled with giant pines, underbrush and amazing vistas of Marin and the Golden Gate Bridge.

One can follow along a lightly traveled road through the course and beyond for more than an hour. I called it a day when I eventually reached a path that goes along the tops of the cliffs ending at the bridge. A wander through the Sea Cliff area of fine homes took me back toward the 1 California and home.

I’m saving that trail to the bridge for another, perhaps clearer, day.