It was a little cooler today at the camp by the river … being only 115 degrees with some winds that felt like a hair dryer blowing in my face, and arms, and legs, all at once.

Just another summer day in Bullhead City, Ariz., as I am told by the locals. Very few tourists here at this time of year. I’ve been told that if you spend a summer here, you could be called a “local” or a “Zonie.”

Living in a place where a “cool” evening means the temperature was less than 90 degrees is just a little different. The heat penetrates into the ground and warms the pipes for the water supply. The “cold” water is warm enough for a shower. The “hot” water is used for washing dishes and scalding hands and face.

When I lived in Pico Cottage in the 1960s, we experienced the same pre-heated water conditions. Most of the pipes for the water supply in those days were above ground. Some had been put in place in the 1890s. The water had nearly two miles to be heated on the way to the house.

For those of you who don’t know, Pico Cottage is that big, old 13-room mansion in Mentryville in Pico Canyon. You get there by driving west on Pico Canyon Road beyond Stevenson Ranch, past all other forms of recent civilization, and following the signs to the left at the end of the county road. It is part of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, or MRCA. That is the state agency that operates many of our parks around the SCV and that lesser valley to the south, the San Fernando.

Another thing we missed in those days, besides cold water, was air conditioning. Not even a swamp cooler. Unless we visited some of the more affluent folks in Newhall or went to a restaurant or grocery store, air conditioning was only a dream.

The bowling alley on Lyons Avenue had air conditioning. Spent a lot of time there. It also had cool water coming out of the faucets.

I can’t seem to remember where the hot water heater was in Pico Cottage. I think it was on the back porch in the now nonexistent restroom that was in a small room next to the entry to the basement. Didn’t need it except to wash dishes and clothes in the summer. It was a large-capacity water heater. Had to be, considering the large bathtubs in that place.

Other than maybe some showers on the beaches at the coast, the first time I can remember an indoor shower was at Placerita Junior High School. We had only bathtubs in Pico Cottage.

Today I enjoyed a shower here in the RV that I call “Billy Bob.” Didn’t use the hot water at all. Didn’t need it. Oh, the joy of Arizona in the summer.

It is now nearly 10:40 p.m., and the temperature is down to almost 102 degrees. Cool evening. Feels good.

I think and believe that back in the days when I was in Pico Cottage and there were only fields where Valencia is now, the SCV was a lot warmer. There were few trees except for the few oaks on the on the hillsides and the cottonwoods along the rivers and creeks. Lack of trees let the heat build, unlike today. The trees of Valencia have really made the SCV cooler and more humid. Trees do that.

So when I read about folks in the SCV complaining about the heat, I have to laugh. Most of us didn’t have cars with air conditioning. The little side-vent windows could be positioned so the hot summer air would blow on you. Since we perspired so much, the air blowing over us would cool us. It was sort of like being a human swamp cooler. Not sure what they did here in Bullhead City.

So for excitement today, we went shopping at Sam’s Club for much of the afternoon, dipped our toes in the river and felt the cooling winds from the monsoon clouds over the nearby mountains. Those winds at least gave us an illusion of cooling.

Looks like we’ll be here for a while. The heat isn’t all that bad. Unless your car is black and you can’t find a shady spot to park … my Jeep is black. May have to change that.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].