Jennie,
If you decide to start your Canadian adventure in Vancouver and drive, please consider coming north through BC and staying with us? From our town it's an easy five hour drive to Jasper. We'll likely be in Vancouver on Thanksgiving weekend, driving home on October 7th or 8th, 2012. Other than that we should be at home in October.

If you happen to be leaving Vancouver that weekend, we'd be happy to act as guides along the way to our town. It's about ten hours driving time from Vancouver. You'll start your drive in a beautiful coastal rain forest, drive along a spectacular river canyon, pass through seven tunnels through mountains, follow another river through an interior desert, wind your way through Cariboo parkland (Ponderosa Pine, Aspen and grass) where cattle graze, and finally into a sub-boreal forest. You're likely to see deer and migrating waterfowl along the way.   

The drive through Jasper Park is wonderful. The mountain scenery is spectacular. Bighorn Sheep and Elk should be near the highway in October. September through October is the Elk mating season. The dominant bull elk have amazing antlers. You'd probably want to spend a night in the town of Jasper so you can have enough time to drive to some of the natural attractions in the area.

The prairies are indeed flat, which makes for easy driving. I've never found them boring, especially in the autumn when tens of thousands of waterfowl are migrating south. Keep in mind that Canada is immense. Allow enough time to see it without being rushed. If you do rent a vehicle try to find one with a flat rate, not one that has a mileage charge.

rags