i have several similar stories from younger times... would not want to repeat now, or in the future, but it happens.
sounds like you guys had an epic adventure though, and met a lot of good people -restores a little of the faith in humanity that i used to have!
after having 2 vehicles with similar issues in the past, i can empathize chasing these particular symptoms.
-the tundra had the the most stupid fuel pump canister assembly that could ever exist- fuel pump in a plastic coffee can with little flapper valves to allow fuel in. supposed to be new tech to make a sump in the tank obsolete??? MR engineer- you really needed a perfectly flat tank that bad huh?!! - what happens when a bunch of latex paint somehow gets in the tank and cures into flexible leafy material, get sucked into your plastic coffee can, is trapped in there, and when the RPMS are over 2000 it all lifts up and covers the sock/filter on the bottom of the pump pick up????!!! -stays there until the truck has been parked a while and it falls back down to the bottom of the plastic coffee can. repeat- repeat - repeat. do you know how long it took me to figure that out???!!!
-Camaro ended up having a clogged and failing catalytic converter. would run fine when cold - run not fine when the cat heated up... eventually stalled completely and needed a tow. after that, it would start and idle, but bog down and stall if you tried to rev it up or let the clutch out in gear. I now carry hose clamps big enough to go around my exhaust pipes. if I have similar problems and its not fuel related, I will not hesitate to start drilling holes right before the cats... if it gets me home great- if that's not the prob, i can strap a section of a coke can over the pipe and move on to the next thing.