At the risk of getting booed & hissed might I suggest an Escape XLT. We have one and enjoy it a lot, it's not huge but you can carry quite a bit in it. It rides & handles really good, we make numerous trips over the mountains from home on the coast to Portland for shopping or medical appointments at the VA horse-pistol and she takes the curves like she's on rails.

The 3.0L 4 cammer under the hood makes it a little pocket rocket. I've taken her up some of the barely maintained logging roads around here and she didn't complain one bit, just dug in and up we went.

Give it a thought, they are a good alternative to a bigger suv.