The problem with disc brakes mentioned by every lbs person I talked to (visited four of the shops here, the fifth really just caters to mountain bikes) is that they make it difficult to mount on a rack. You can buy specialized racks or have them built, but that's a bit spendy for my taste.

I'm also finding that many touring cyclists on other forums seem to dislike disc brake because they are harder to repair on the fly. They say the same about the index shifter, but the bar end ones seemed kinda scary to me.

No one around hear had the Surly's in stock. One of them looked up the price of the Long Haul Trucker for me, but it would have been waaaay over the thousand mark I'll have to ask about the Cross-Check though. I do like the steel frames so I have been leaning towards them in my search.

I looked at the Trek's, but they were also too spendy and I have read that they do not handle as well when they aren't under a load. Not sure which Trek it was that was so squirrely when I rode it, but I know it was more than I wanted to spend.

Off to look at Surlys!