I'd be very cautious about getting a touring bike because it feels more "fun" than another one. Two cautionary tales:

1. In 2005 I was shopping in Oregon for a mountain bike, and didn't really know much about mountain bikes. I test rode a few, including a Kona Lava Dome. I thought it felt very lively in the parking lot, because when I pedaled hard, it seemed like it wanted to just take off, even popping wheelies. The other bike I tested felt rather slow and dull by comparison. So I got the Kona. Later on, I discovered that it really wasn't a good fit - that aspect which made it want to pop wheelies in the parking lot also meant that whenever I was going up a very steep hill, the front wheel would want to come off the ground, making the bike very difficult to control. I would enviously watch other people as they seemed to pedal effortlessly up the same hill where I had to lean forward almost with my chest to the handlebar simply to stop the front wheel from flying up. So, in this case, the more "staid" bike which didn't feel so lively popping wheelies in the parking lot was probably actually the better one for the stuff I'd really end up doing - i.e. not popping wheelies, but rather going up steep hills offroad around Corvallis.

2. In 2007 I had both a Novara Safari and a Surly Long Haul Trucker, and was trying to choose between them for my next tour - one would have to go. I was living in St Louis at the time, and did lots of test rides around Forest Park. The Safari, with its trekking bars and 26" wheels, felt a lot more lively and fun than the LHT, which felt kind of dead and slow in comparison. Eventually I decided to keep the Safari, and I sold the LHT. However, I had made a big mistake: All my test rides had been unladen (i.e. no full panniers). Once I got out on my tour, I found that the Safari felt quite different - it seemed to flex a lot, and eventually I noticed it would shimmy at the worst moments (e.g. going down a huge hill into Deadwood SD, in rain that was turning to snow). I think the LHT probably wound have been the more stable bike, I made the wrong decision based on wrong thinking - a touring bike isn't about being lively, it's about being stable under load.

So if I were you, I would get a pair of racks, front and rear, and a set of panniers, and load up the panniers with books or similar, and load up both bikes and take them for test rides of at least 20 miles. Then you will find out which one is the better touring bike. Doing test rides of touring bikes unladen is just a waste of time - test them the same way you'll use them.

Neil