Terry, I personally appreciate your contribution to this and other threads and have the impression you are a vastly experienced airman. What I can't get my head around is your statement that "she did the flying" and as such, I presume in your view, accomplished something of distinction. Years ago as a freshly minted PPL I flew left seat in a spam can from Southern California to New Jersey with a low hour flight instructor right seat. I manipulated the controls,dialed in and tracked the NDB's and VOR's, made the radio calls, and handled almost all the take-offs and landings. Over beers after the journey the FI asked if I thought I could have completed the flight (dare I say it) solo? Still on a high after touching down after a long journey I said "yes no problem". He said then why did he have to make the judgement calls when we were approaching a line of thunderstorms outside Pampa Tx. And when we arrived over Oklahoma above the clouds why did he have to decide an SVFR approach was the best option? And when I couldn't find the Cincinnati airfield at night no matter how much vectoring I received, why did he have to locate it?
What I'm saying is "I flew the plane" but as you know there is a whole bunch more to completing a flight safely and successfully or to even contemplate making a long flight. So a claim to have "flown the plane" doesn't amount to much and yes a freshly minted PPL could have done what Tracey did, I suspect a student pilot with 20 hours would have done alright also.
Twenty odd years later and with similar hours and certifications as Tracey I am planning another transcontinental flight of about 2300 miles in a 180 hp taildragger. It's a daunting prospect and has gotten me all nervous as hell because I will be conducting the flight solo. So I'll be doing the weather, flight planning, and the toughest task of them all making decisions and judgement calls, the "flying the plane" part is a no brainer.