Fellow Louisianian,

Sell it and get a road bike if you can't afford to keep it and just go buy another bike. I would personally save and get a road bike and keep the DS for different kinds of rides. I wouldn't attempt going through the hassle of converting to drop bars and all that as the results wouldn't be pretty and still wouldn't be the same as a road bike. There's a lot of differences in what makes a road bike a road bike besides drop bars alone. If you feel you're riding on the road a lot and that's what has you wanting a road bike, why not get some more road friendly tires for a little faster/smoother ride. Then start saving for the road bike.