QOL blows commuting from left to right. You get 12 days a month off by contract, plan on burning 4 of those commuting. You basically have to leave the day prior to starting a reserve period, and depending on when you're released on the last day, you may not get back until your first day off. Find a cozy crash pad. PM me for more lessons learned if you like. Some days you have to get creative. I've done three legs on three airlines to get home.

As far as getting back east, anything is possible but there are a lot of people ahead of you trying to do the same, and now that CAL/UAL guys can cross metal, there is a lot of movement of CAL guys going west. I'm planning years to manage expectations.