Members have already asked me that question, but it is really up to you. For example, the group travelling East will not have much choice because you will have five cities to cover. That means that you will be leaving on Sunday night in order to begin in the first city on Monday morning.
With respect to the trip West, you will be visiting four cities, but they are farther apart. Would you prefer to leave on Sunday night and return late on Thursday? That is probably impossible to do. So you would probably have to leave on Friday or on Monday, when there is nothing to do. You will have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but you will probably only be able to return home on Saturday.