I decided to go ahead and replace the head gasket, thankfully the head was pretty straight and the only thing on the head that needs replacing will be the exhaust valve guides. Whew! One side note having to do with the leaking symptom. On this head there are pressed in ball bearings which are not supposed to come out. The place where the coolant was leaking was close enough to this area that for $40 insurance I'll have the head pressure tested to see if those are o.k. I'll let you know what they find.
Matt