Guessing from your road bike, maybe a 60cm touring bike frame would be right?

Right now, there's a lot of money to made in buying, stripping and selling old steel frames... the West Coast market for this bikes is super hot. Used is just not a good deal right now, but keep looking, of course.

Surly is a good option at this point, but I understand about the money. Nashbar does sell a cheaper frame, but I've never seen it. I have seen the steel Nashbar MTB frames, and they are top end.

The good news is that you're setting on a lot of quality parts to use once the right frame comes along.