I solved some of my own problems, I think.

I changed the preview from the adobe preview to the os/x preview.  Seems to work a little better.

I also changed the page setup to an IP on the wireless net that is sometimes used by the xerox phaser.  That printer changes it's IP addy on occasion and I keep it set up on several IP's just in case it decides to move.  I assigned the page setup to one of the ip's that particular printer is not currently using.

Preview and Save to PDF both worked fine without a hitch.

I also worked through a batch print of 10 D size drawings - That worked quite well.

I still do not know why the beachball on the MAC though.  The Mac will print to the HP printer just fine (other than it seems to be very difficult to get it to print in the proper orientation consistently).