Dave and I decided before we got married that we weren't going to fall victim to the Christmas trap. We arrived at my parents house for Christmas Eve and stayed for the afternoon/evening. Then after waking up at a reasonable hour (I had to put my foot down with Dave's sleeping habbits), we would drive to his parents house (a bit over and hour) and spent the morning/afternoon with them. Then we would return home, have a romantic gift exchange by the fireplace on DVD, and generally relax in each others company. It worked out well except for enduring some guilt trips. Now it doesn't really matter as we won't be visiting anyone.
 

As Susan said, we developed a workable system that let us have Christmas night for ourselves. It did require visiting only the parents and no other extended family. But it was worth it for the private at-home Christmas. But I suspect that your plans require a significantly longer drive to get back to the homeland. So if your options are Friday or late Monday night, I would say Friday. I wouldn't want to wait until Monday, and I'd be afraid I'd be Christmas-fatigued after a weekend of traveling and Christmasing. I'd say do it while your fresh and eager for Christmas.