Sitting in a garden on the 25 acre grounds of the Roughley Manor Bed and Breakfast, I marvel at the beautiful Washingtonia Palms and Cypress Trees, I can hardly believe I’m in Twenty-Nine Palms until for just a split second I feel a rumble and hear a low roar, the sound of canons going off at the nearby base.  The Roughley Manor B & B is a beautiful home, built in 1928.  The sitting room, dining room and the outbuildings are finished and furnished perfectly.  Our room, The Oasis Room, had everything a guest could want.  Let’s look at a few pictures:

  

There are many splendid places to sit inside the house and out.  There are 5 fireplaces in the 3-story manor which boasts two guest suites.  Seven outbuildings are rented to guests, five of which are individual cottages.  Our room, the Oasis Room, had everything a guest could want.  The outside sitting areas are perfect for birdwatching.  A pair of great horned owls nest in a tree just outside the manor’s front door.  To get a close look, the innkeepers have placed a camera on the nest and from the inside office we watched the owl fly into her nest to sit on an egg. Below is the show!

Add to the mix of all the amenities in this lovely place, a pool and hot tub!

 

The manor has a colorful history.  It is now owned by Gary and Jan Peters, the gracious hosts who purchased it in 1994 and are responsible for all the improvements that cater to guests.  After a lovely night’s stay we enjoyed our breakfast.

There is much more to the town of Twenty-Nine Palms than one would think.  Murals cover many of the buildings and they are not just painted pictures, they tell historical stories about the area.  And just blocks from the B & B is the Joshua Tree Visitor Center, a nearby art gallery, a museum, The 29 Palms Inn (where we had a terrific dinner) and, of course, the gateway to the beautiful Joshua Tree National Park.

To learn more about the Roughley Manor check out their website: http://www.roughleymanor.com/index.html

Reluctantly we left the oasis and drove through Joshua Tree.

We then drove into the Mecca Hills, and of course we couldn’t pass up a cave so Alan went to explore.

 

A side trip found us at Desert Hot Springs where we enjoyed a tour of Cabot Yerxas Lodge.

 

This Hopi inspired pueblo was built by Cabot on property he homesteaded in 1913.  He lived here until his death in 1965.  He pieced it together with brick that he hand made as well as telephone poles and other debris which he fished out of the Salton Sea after it was deposited when the Colorado River jumped its banks.  The home is quite a site and worth taking the tour.  But if you don’t opt for the tour, it is feels magical to walk around the area and visit the unique gift shop and museum.

The four-story pueblo has 35 rooms.  Yerxa was a colorful character who lived a life of adventure since he was an early teen.  Unique artifacts that he collected are on display at the museum.

When we first visited Cabot’s Lodge there were no homes anywhere near it.  Today it is in the  midst of a residential area. As you can imagine, there were times when it seemed no one could block the total destruction of this unique place but a foundation has taken it over and preserved it.  Tour and historical information may be found at:

http://www.cabotsmuseum.org/MuseumTours.html.

It is quite a sight to see!