If propagation is favorable, your best bet would probably be 6 meter radios.
However, you have to get a Tech level ham radio license to legally operate 6 meters in the US. Both you and the person you would be talking to must get the license.
Getting a Tech license is pretty easy. I have trained groups of kids at my church - ages 10 thru 17 - and every one of them passed the FCC licensing test on the first try. (It was a week long radio camp, held in the summer when the kids were off from school. Pre-Covid, of course).
If an average 10 year old can get the license, surely you and your partner can.