I remember my first reaction was a WOW on the gliding or floating during the landing.
Well done on the move, what I did almost 20 years ago, was to go from the 152 to the 172. After that I started taking friends for a ride and some time after that they were asking me to take them and we were paying half and half.
Better choice for cross country flights.
After few hours I started flying the PA28 and then the C182 (noticing the extra power when flying solo) and then the PA28R. It worked fine for me (but there is no reason nor common rule I guess)