thinking about bying a D7000

hi,
i'm currently shooting with a Nikon D80
and i have been happy with it

but i'm planning a road trip and since i have to buy a new lens (wife dropped it)
i thought about getting a new camera alltogether
so what do you think?

is the D7000 (with 18-200 VR) a good step-up?

or is there a successor on it's way soon? (given the fact that this model is already 2 yrs old)

tia!
Marc