I refuse to drive one, but it would be hard to beat a minivan. Good gas mileage, lots of storage room, entertainment center for long drives, back seats can fold or can be removed......
We make it work in the Toyota Highlander or my Nissan Frontier Crew Cab Truck (gear in bed of the truck with cover on). So far decent gas mileage and all packed in.
Drive a 2007 Saturn Vue. It gets 24 mpg which is better than advertised and I load it up. We put a sports unbrella, two coolers, dd's bag, our luggage, etc. in it. I have a system. DD builds a little "fort" with one back seat section down and sleeps comfortably. I love my SUV but will have to trade it in soon. It is getting too many miles on it. This spring we will go to Alabama, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, so, I think I will get this spring in before settling on a new SUV.
2012 Chevy Equinox averages 30 mpg on our trips to SoCal. My DD is a big girl, 5'10" 250 and there is a LOT of room for her and another big girl if necessary on a long drive. She says there is more leg room than our 2007 Chev 2500 crew cab. There is also plenty of room in the back for a full sized ice chest, 2 folding chairs, 2 softball bags and 3 suitcases.