Tattoo Highway

Thomas takes the bus to Las Vegas to drop his daughters off at Monica's mother's house After an emotional goodbye, Thomas tattoos a phoenix on a woman who gave up her child for adoption ten years ago. Later, Thomas pays his respects to the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. at their tattoo shop and brings a mother and daughter closer together through his artwork. From Vegas, the bus heads down to Long Beach to see his mentor Rick Walters and visit Burt Grimm's, the shop where he learned to tattoo.

Thomas drives the bus to Reno, NV to visit his old friend Chris at his tattoo shop, Sinister Ink. Krystin tattoos a sexy blonde's foot inside the shop, and everyone accuses Thomas of being the biggest flirt on the bus. Later, Thomas visits his old high school, and Monica worries that his bad experiences in school might affect how he raises their daughters. After coming to terms with his home town, Thomas takes the bus to Hawthorne, NV to meet Trooper, a man who recently lost his wife and wants a portrait of her on his chest. Thomas mixes Trooper's wife's ashes in the ink and gives one of his most meaningful tattoos on the trip.

The crew takes a day off from work to celebrate Chili's birthday. Chili is very close to his mom and asks Thomas to tattoo a note she wrote him onto his palm. Thomas uses UV ink so no one can see the tattoo unless it's under a black light. For Chili's final gift, the crew calls a stripper onto the bus to give him a lap dance. Tommy gives her a tattoo as payment, but an argument arises after Tommy can't figure out how to finish the tattoo. The next day, Thomas rents an RV to take his crew on a trip to the mountains. On the way out of town, Thomas hits a fire hydrant, and they end up tattooing prostitutes at the Mustang Ranch to pay for the damage.

The bus travels to Sacramento to tattoo Heather, a voluptuous artist who used to work in a mortuary and has a collection of dead animals. Thomas completely changes the artwork she drew for her tattoo, but she ends up loving the tat. The bus moves on to San Francisco to interview potential shop helpers. None of the women they interview are right for the job, so they continue their trip without hiring anybody. While in San Francisco, Thomas and Krystin tattoo matching eggplants on a gay couple. After the tattoo, Thomas performs a renegade wedding for the love birds.

In San Francisco, Thomas hires a portrait artist named Stash to tattoo a picture of his spiritual mentor on his calf. Ajahn Le is a Buddhist monk Thomas met years ago. After the tattoo, the bus heads to San Jose to visit Ajahn Le and show him the portrait. Later, the crew visits a Buddhist temple with Ajahn Le, but Chili grows uncomfortable. To end the day, Tommy tattoos a Koi fish on a man who hopes the symbol will bring good luck to his unborn son.

The bus rolls into Albuquerque and picks up Lava, a Tahitian dancer who wants to cover up the Thai words for "faith" on her back. Thomas and Tommy convince Lava to get a giant Koi fish that covers two thirds of her back. While in Albuquerque, Monica's hot rod breaks down. In order to fix the hotrod, Thomas makes a "bro deal" and swaps tattoo work for engine parts and labor. For the last leg of this trip, Thomas travels back to Long Beach and tattoos a pair of U.S. Marines. One served two tours of duty in Iraq while the other just graduated from boot camp.