Here is my opinion. Iam an old, fat guy so bear that in mind.
I would go with the Rockhopper. I would remove the knobbies and add a touringtire. REI sells Vittoria RandonneurCross tires for $35.00 each. Otherwise,use the touring tire of your choice.
I would remove the RockShok and move the crown race to a rigidfork such as a Surly 1x1 fork. Depending on the brakesand travel of the suspension shock, this will drop between 1.3 to 1.9 pounds ofweight from the bicycle. I would leavethe steering tube uncut on the new fork and get additional spacers to raise the level of thehandlebar. I would replace the flathandlebar with a trekking handlebar. That allows the shifters and brake levers tobe transferred directly without any changes.
I would then replace the worn parts of the drivetrain. If you plan to ride lots of hilly terrain orpasses, I would go with really low gears and the Specialized is alreadyoutfitted for that. This gives you theopportunity to adjust the gearing to exactly what you want. Depending on the wear, replace the individualchain rings or the entire crankset. Ispend a lot of time with my granny so I would go with very low gears.
My two cents.