Royal Gorge Bridge is the highest suspension bridge in the United States, straddling the Arkansas River. What a stunning view! …I suddenly have an urge to upgrade my shell with an emergency parachute and a Mars lander-style airbag. You know, just in case. 🌉🦀🐚

A few hours south by car from Colorado Springs is the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The dunes are truly impressive! It was a bit disorienting because you feel like you can keep walking forever and make no progress. Also, it looks like a giant beach with no shoreline or ghost crabs. 🏜️🦀🐚

The name: “Colorado” originates from Spanish for “Colored red”, which was an apt name for the Colorado River, pigmented with reddish silt and sediment. «¡Soy un cangrejo ermitaño colorado!» 🦀🐚

Glen Eyrie Castle is an estate of a Civil War general who founded Colorado Springs. Despite being built in 1871, it already had a working intercom system! I bet that came in handy when guards had to alert the knights that the castle was under siege, and the number of hostile trebuchets in range. 🏰🦀🐚

Hello from Colorado Springs, CO, on a trip with my human companion’s family! At the US Air Force Academy, I learned how to pilot a mini P-38 Lightning. The Chapel (pic #4) was hidden in a giant box (pic #3) for renovation…I get it, beautiful buildings and crabs need to hide in a shell sometimes. 🦀🐚

Meet my new congeneric…colleagues? Comrades? Friends! The shiny violet dude (“Jet”) is Coenobita violascens, and the tan gal (“Terra”) is Coenobita pseudorugosus. I suspect they’re less adventurous than me, but they’re interested in making future appearances here. 🦀🐚🦀🐚🦀🐚

Big news! Two new terrestrial hermit crabs showed up in my ecosystem. They didn’t have proper shells, so I printed some for them, and now they’re my friends! 🦀🐚🦀🐚🦀🐚

Of course, it won’t be a state fair without some deliciously unhealthy, deep-fried food, usually served on a stick. My favorite was deep-fried pickles and deep fried cheese curds. Hoping to come back again! 🌭🍟🦀🐚

On to farm animals! Here you can see domesticated vertebrates. The Miracle of Birth center is a fascinating place where you get to see sheep and cows in the zoea stage. So weird how mammals seem to reproduce without eggs or ocean water…maybe they have a 3D printer organ behind their gonopores. 🐄🐑🪿🦀🐚

Hello there, beautiful butterfly! Possibly Caligo eurilochus (forest giant owl butterfly)? Fancy seeing a fellow member of pancrustacea. I also saw a live peregrine falcon and a dead, stuffed mammal of some sort (idk, gray wolf I think) 🦋🦀🐚

I’m at the Minnesota State Fair! There is so much to see—wildlife, farm life, farm equipment, cutting edge technology…and best of all, food! 🚜 🎡🎪🌽🦀🐚

This is the cozy cabin where I stayed. I was blessed with good weather during this trip, but if I had to hole up for a rainy day, I can’t think of a better place to spend it. 🌲🏡🌲🦀🐚

After enjoying a mini donut and matcha latte, I discovered a toy store that had a surprising number of toy hermit crabs. The anatomical accuracy was disappointing though. My standards are possibly too high, but little human zoeae and megalopae deserve better! 🧸🦀🐚

Catching up on overdue posts—here is the beautiful city of Duluth, Minnesota. I love the giant aerial lift bridge! I was hoping to catch a cargo ship go by, but did not have any luck. Maybe after my failed attempt at commandeering the USS Midway (back in April 22, 2026), I scared them all away. 🚢🦀🐚

I got to dip my pereiopods in the cold water. I was also hoping for a giant hairy Minnesota land crab to crawl out of the big cave in picture #2, but sadly I didn’t see one. Hey, they probably aren’t real, but in my expert opinion they’re slightly more plausible than Bigfoot or yeti. 🫈🦀🐚

Gooseberry Falls State Park—it was a lovely sight and not too difficult of a walk, but my human companion says the water is basically a trickle compared to the last visit a few years ago. 🦀🐚

Split Rock Lighthouse! The massive fresnel lens inside the lighthouse (picture 3 if you look closely) was so cool. If I can use a more powerful light source and some mirrors to make the light beam unidirectional, I wonder if I can set a swath of Wisconsin on fire (not that I want to do that). 💡🦀🐚

The Pebble Beach at Split Rock State Park was a serene and beautiful place. I want either a summer cabin or an evil genius hideout on that picturesque little island. 🏝️🦀🐚

One more small trip before what’s probably going to be a long hiatus for trips. Off to Duluth, Georgia for all the Korean food—just kidding, Duluth, Minnesota to see the north shore area! 🌲🦀🐚

Au revoir, Montréal! Thanks for all the sightseeing and delicious food. As I digest some poutine before my flight, I’m still thinking about this one sculpture that looked like the Circle of Willis (picture 3)…it’s cool, but does a vascular neurologist or a neurosurgeon live there? 🇨🇦🧠🦀🐚

The red of Saint George’s cross (used to represent England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿) and the white of French royal emblem were seen as symbolic of the Canadian people’s heritage. Then in 1921, King George V made red and white the official national colors of Canada, inspired by a red hermit crab in a white shell. 🇨🇦🦀🐚

I explored the extensive burrow network dug by humans (which they call RÉSO, or the Underground City) as well as the World Trade Centre Montréal. The piece of the Berlin Wall was on display. I think I prefer the dark, humid, and cozy crab burrows. 🕳️🦀🐚

I got to watch the Notre-Dame Basilica’s spectacular light show. The cathedral is beautiful. I got carried away fidgeting with color editing in pics #4 and 5, while waiting for the show to start…I have no images from the light show itself because recording is not allowed, and I’m a good crab. 😇🦀🐚

Poké bowl and Chemex coffee! ☕️🦀🐚

Hello fellow meiura(picture 1), future hermit crab home(picture 2), assorted protostomes and deuterostomes(picture 3). There was also a photo of an Ecuadorian hermit crab…or at least I think you’re C. compressus. Some of my cousins in the Pacific are hard to tell apart. Poor guy needs a new shell.🦀🐚

Next up: Olympic Stadium and Biodôme (not to be confused with Biosphere). The remnant of the 1976 Olympic velodrome was converted into massive artificial ecosystem replicas populated with lots of vertebrate friends. 🌱🦀🐚

In case of ecosystem collapse, my plan is to re-pane the hexagons to make it airtight, and create a self-sustaining, closed ecosphere with artificial ocean for Coenobita species to survive the next mass extinction. Like this post, and I’ll reserve a spot in the basement freezer for your gametes. 🦀🐚

I made it to the Biosphere! The geodesic dome was far more impressive than I imagined. Inside, you can learn about why you shouldn’t screw up the ecology. Happier planet = happier hermit crabs. 🌎🦀🐚

On a ferry to Saint Helen’s Island! On the way there, I saw the Montreal Clock Tower, La Grande roue de Montréal, and Habitat 67. So much to see with my two compound eyes! ⛴️🦀🐚

This incredibly ornate building used to be the Royal Bank of Canada. Now it’s a café with delicious French toast. 🍽️🏦🦀🐚