Oh my!! When are you planning to go Smitty? How fun, planning a great bike trip AND shopping for a new adventure bike! I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice. I have a Jamis Aurora Elite I bought at Free Range Cycle a few years ago, and it does really well on hard pack gravel and rough surfaces. I also use it for commuting and some of our light tours (longest has been four days). It handles heavy loads really well. Not sure how small they make their frames though.

Good luck!