Windmill 'De Hoop', Maasdam

A review:  'Hoop' sounds like and means 'hope', but can also mean 'heap'.
There are two windmills in Maasdam, and the other one is actually not far from this one, but I will post that another time.

As luck would have it, I had to go to the new industrial area in Dordrecht, far from the city centre but practically close to the toll booths leading to this half of the Hoeksche Waard.  The N217 is actually a private road, so the owner, bless his Dutch heart, is allowed to impose a fee on all who wish to use it.  Maybe the inhabitants of this huge polder are exempt, I don't know.  I could look it up.  The toll of 2 euros going in and 2 euros going out has been stable for a very long time, though, and it's a rather busy area with several industrial zones (what else to expect between Dordrecht and Rotterdam), so, even without raising the amount, he can rake in a fair total every single day.  Maybe it's not a 'he', maybe it's a whole board of directors, but I doubt it's the entire polder.

The reason I had to go there was to pick up a replacement hose for our pressure cleaner.  AW is taking advantage of the sunny weather to clean our terrace at the back.  The pressure cleaner was a gift from his 'favourite' brother, John, who, sadly, we are no longer in touch with.  There is always a deep disappointment when you have to break with a family member, but hey!  We're veterans in that sort of thing.  All good (and bad) things come to an end... except AW and me.

I had a bit of time afterwards to drive to Maasdam for this shot.  The extra will show you the road.  No other really good panoramic angle as there were too many structures near it, and the opposite side of the road was all built up as well.

In the evening, we went to Lavinia's place for dinner.  Sweed and Benna were there, too.  It was good!  Asian cooking... but then I think of the dishes 'back there' and it is not the same.  After that, I drove AW, Sweed and Benna to Sweed's place, and Lavinia followed on her bicycle.  They don't live far from each other, a very doable distance.  Then back home for my own activities, and at 23.30 I went back to fetch AW.  Sweed could not accept losing the last round and spent a quarter of an hour hypothesizing about what 'could have been' and 'should have been' while I slowly fell asleep in my chair.... ;D)))

Moscow Mig says his war is proceeding according to plan.  Zelensky says his country is still strong and pushing the enemy back.  Don't know about anyone else but I think I know who is telling the truth.  In the meantime, Thomas Krol (for the men) and Jutta Leerdam (for the women) became world champions sprint skating.  With the all-round championships also going on at the moment in Hamar, Norway, I look forward to more positivity this coming weekend.

THANK YOU for the massive number of stars for yesterday's UBY!  Seems like the road is a lucky place for me.