South through Missouri, then west on I-70 across Kansas to Denver for a concert with friends, over the Rockies, and south through Utah's national parks before the final Mojave crossing. Same ~300-mile daily ceiling, same charge-stop discipline. Different rocks.
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After five nights basecamped near Fox Lake, the return leg opens with a marathon. A wash at Rochelle's Hub City Car Wash, the World's Largest Truck Stop at Walcott, a turn south through Mount Pleasant and small-town Missouri at dusk, and a late I-70 run on free Rivian chargers to a sleep-at-charger night at Independence. The day's Mount Pleasant to Columbia leg is the longest single tow run of the whole trip.
582 mi ~13 (towing, marathon) first-day-back
Independence, Missouri to a rest-area night in Arriba, Colorado: 523 towing miles across Kansas on I-70, six fast charges from Tesla, IONNA, and Rivian, a dead-battery 0 percent arrival at Goodland, and the Welcome to Colorful Colorado sign at golden hour.
300 mi ~6 (towing) route-70
Woke at the Arriba rest area on I-70 with a friend parked behind us, an Airstream (BRN 6624) and its red GMC. Bacon and eggs in the camper, then west off the plains and north into the foothills toward a Rocky Mountain basecamp at Lyons.
135 mi ~3 route-70
Leave the Airstream in Lyons and run the Rivian up into Rocky Mountain National Park. We landed both timed entries this time, the Bear Lake Road corridor and Trail Ridge Road. Hike the Bear Lake loop in the morning, then climb Trail Ridge to the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 ft and turn around, an out-and-back through the high tundra before dropping back to the river camp at night.
114 mi ~5 (truck only, no towing) hiking
Pack up the Lyons basecamp and tow south to a new base in Golden, then unhitch and run the truck into Denver with friends for Meow Wolf Convergence Station and a rooftop burlesque show, the night before the June 6 ITCHY-O show.
84 mi ~1.5 towing, plus an evening run into Denver elevation-climb
A free Golden day with the Airstream parked: float Clear Creek in the afternoon, then a truck-only run into Denver for ITCHY-O at Mission Ballroom with friends. No towing, all play.
49 mi ~1.5 truck-only into Denver and back concert
The big crossing: over the Continental Divide and through Glenwood Canyon, down to Grand Junction for an overnight power nap at the charger before the dawn run into Utah.
295 mi ~7 with the passes + charging charging-math
Up before dawn at the Grand Junction charger, the 110-mile tow west to a sunrise at the Windows, the famous arches all day, then unhitch at Sun Outdoors for our one Moab night.
136 mi ~3.5 towing + Arches local national-park
Left Moab at 10:30 AM for the Mesa Arch detour in Canyonlands, then west past the Capitol Reef petroglyphs to a full-hookup night at Thousand Lakes RV Park in Torrey.
215 mi ~4 to Capitol Reef, more if we push to Beaver photography
A truck-only morning in Capitol Reef, the Chimney Rock climb, the visitor center, and the Fremont petroglyph panel, then hitch up at 74% and take the John's Valley back road through Antimony to Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon, rolling in at 1 percent.
133 mi ~3 towing + Capitol Reef local scenic-byway
The Airstream rides into Bryce for the rim, then the tunnel-free way to Zion: UT-14 over the 9,902 ft Markagunt crest and 6,100 ft of descent to La Verkin, the best towing leg of the whole trip at 1.88 mi/kWh.
145 mi ~3.5 towing + Bryce local photography
Both pools banked before 9, then 147.7 towing miles down the Virgin River Gorge into 110 degree Las Vegas. The camper drops at Oasis; Omega Mart caps the night.
175 mi ~3 h to Las Vegas + town hops national-park
Closing the loop. One long final push across the Mojave.
330 mi ~7 with charge stops home
Vehicles wider than 7'10" or taller than 11'4" need an NPS escort through the historic 1.1-mile tunnel, and the 23' International is over the width limit. We're bypassing entirely via Hurricane and SR-9. Adds ~65 miles, removes a real risk.
A knife-edge ridge of road with thousand-foot drops on both sides and no shoulder. Stunning, terrifying, slow with a trailer. Don't stop on the road, use the marked pullouts only.
11,158 ft summit, then a long downgrade through Vail and Glenwood. Trailer-brake controller dialed in before the descent; charge to 90% at Frisco so we have headroom for the regen on the way down.
