Shellylh, as someone who carries his D70 around about 1/20th of the time he did his earlier Canon G1, due to size/weight, I'm considering giving up dSLRs. Although it may be too small for you, the micro 4 thirds, especially the Pana GF1, is really interesting in my book. You may want to give a look if you haven't so far.
For some reason "feeling" the ground works better on sidewalks and dirt paths over sharp rocks and handball courts. They do work pretty well when unintentionally "surfing" down a muddy hillside though. Then again maybe I just need these.