ossie, thanks for the heads up on the 36 spoker. I too have a Brooks on mine and the stock stem suits me fine at its highest angle position (one of those multi angle ones from Spec.) and in fact this frame fits me better than any other bike I have had and is quite comfortable for multi day long rides.
Your 44 lbs is about what I always used to tour with so I would look into a 36 spoke wheel for a real trip. As for your tires, I have always toured on 28s with luckily enough never one flat in five tours, some up to about a month long. Lucky I guess, but shows that 28s can work fine if one is careful of weight and road conditions. Yes, that does sound fishy with your rims and 28s, who knows.

as for a LHT, yes of course it and other bikes are more solid, for me this bike is a good compromise for the roads I ride on, with the flexibility of changing rear cassettes and tires to make it reasonably fast, while still able to put 32's or 35's if you are going to be on gravel and dirt a lot. As you say though, my bikes life is for the most part doing what you say, commuting and light trips.

oh and yes, your trip was quite a dash! 120 klicks per day I figure and all that altitude.

cheers again and good tourer building.