Hi Fostermjd,
At the risk of insult to others here, the questions and concerns you have with the longest of PCs are valid. If model 2551 or 2552 is ideal for you, then be patient for a used one.
Our travel destinations are exclusively to national parks, monuments, forests, and BLMs. Our 2007 PC-2350 with a 23'-8" length and Jeep Liberty in tow, works well in such places because the tow vehicle is handled independently at camp sites. We often park our Jeep by the street, parked 90 degrees to the PC. If our PC was 6 to 7 feet longer like models 2910 & 3100, camp-site selection would be much harder yet. If national parks and such are your primary destinations, then you want a motor home to be as short as possible, yet still meet your minimum criteria. So I advise to wait for a used model 2551.
I would never consider traveling in a 30 foot long rig without having a tow vehicle. Getting around in national parks with such a long rig will be severely restrictive. You will miss too much of what you came to see.
Regarding "handling", model 2551 and 2552 will handle the best of all other PC models because their over-all length related to the wheel base offers the best stability and weight distribution of the PC line-up. But if you find it unacceptable, you can do as many other motor home owners have done and invest in heavy duty front and rear stabilizer bars, heavy duty shock absorbers, and heavy duty steering stabilizer. All suspension upgrades combined along with a wheel alignment, will make it most satisfactory, comfortable, and safe. And they are reasonably affordable, especially if your husband installs them himself. The benefit of all the upgrades is even noticed while camping. The rig doesn't rock much when walking around inside.
Every PC regardless of model, will be less temperamental on the open road than just about every other brand, because of their low profile and aerodynamic shape.
About over-loading a class C motor home of any brand, the most vulnerable component to an over-load condition are the tires. If you are concerned of an over-load condition, there are tires available that handle significantly more weight than typical "E" rated motor home tires. Those extra-load-range tires will put that worry to rest. PC model 2910T is most concerning for over-loading due to the extra weight of the 3 slide outs. The founder of Phoenix USA Kermit Fischer once told me, as a general rule, each slide out adds roughly 600 pounds, regardless of PC model. The exception was the tiny 400 pound slide out of long ago in models 2350 and 2551 that only had a couch inside it. Adding the fridge in 2010 increased the weight to 600 pounds.