destroyed my 70-300VR ... any thoughts on replacement?

I was at the Winnipeg Zoo last week and set my tripod down for a moment, when a wind gust knocked it over. Clearly, the legs were not properly spread. Duh.

The D7000 goes to Nikon tomorrow for what they estimate to be $449 worth of frame straightening, replacement of card slot door, and full AF calibration (which I have been wanting anyway.)

The 70-300VR, which had been attached, ended up in 3 pieces on the camera and the ground, and is done according to Nikon. They will be giving me an 18 to 25 % voucher for a replacement and I am inclined to just replace this lens. It is too good to be without.

Full story with images here: http://kimletkeman.blogspot.ca/2012/07/d7000-and-70-300vr-bite-dust-almost.html

So I am wondering what creative thoughts others might have for a good replacement? One caveat -- no way am I going really high in cost, so I really mean creative. I like shooting long and isolating subjects, so I need a minimum of 200mm at the long end.

I see these options:

• just get another 70-300VR ... very good option of course

• grab a used 80-200 2.8, which will work quite well with my Tamron 1.4x teleconverter ... gets me the range at one or two stops improved subject isolation ... very tempting, but huge

• sell my 18-200VR and add that to the replacement money to get a new 18-300VR -- seems really risky since there is no way that the new lens can match the 70-300VR across the board ...

• grab the Tamron 70-300VC ... supposedly a pretty good option and there is a $100 rebate in the US right now, so it is cheaper than the discounted Nikon

So ... any thoughts?

--
http://kimletkeman.blogspot.com