Welcome to the forum, Scott.
I am a long time user as well and have also used many platforms. I know where you are coming from.
I never got past the basics of Pro|E back in the day because that is all I needed. It was still ANSI Y14.5 and the implementation was sufficient at the time other than the -always displayed- datum tags. This problem exists to this day! So when I say I feel your pain, I really do.
Being semi-retired has given me a lot of time to explore the rest of what Creo has to offer. Most of the functions have been there in one form or another, but working with it today makes it new to me. The sheetmetal module, although frustrating as it is, is useful. Mechanism is fun, along with Animation makes it useful. And now with Creo -finally- improving real time rendering... I am seriously looking forward to that when M010 comes out. I never before used surface feature either. A lot of new-to-me avenues there as well.
Hang in there and get your pace back to where it use to be. You might just find it to do what you need and then some. Also be sure to post your queries here so you can get answers or feel free to share your old tip and tricks, also known as "Pro|WorkArounds^tm" (trademark belonging to all PTC users).
One thing I can say about Creo over most other platforms... My old PTC Designer files still open in Creo. Now that's a feat!