Study at the Grand Canyon

I'm currently on vacation visiting my in-laws in Chinle, Arizona, in the Navajo Nation.  We had a couple of days at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, about 24 hours total, and I spent about 7-8 hours doing this study at the Studio Lookout overlooking the Canyon just near the Bright Angel Pass.  The weather was cold but clear, and there was still some snow on the mountains after a storm they had a week or two ago, but it was quickly melting.  It's funny to paint where there are a lot of tourists.  I was listening to Anna Karenina for about the twelfth time (I plug in to dissuade people from talking to me), so I probably didn't notice some of the attention given to me by tourists who were curious about an artist painting outside in the winter.  But generally I would guess that people are more drawn to a place that wouldn't have caught their eye otherwise if they see an artist working there because the assumption is that the artist has found something really unique.  So what do these people do?  Go straight up, and instead of really looking at what they are about to photograph, they take a couple of shots, and move on.  I always wonder if they are going to study their pictures later, and what memories those pictures will bring them of the place and the experience they had there. I didn't take many photos while I was at the Canyon.  I find that if I paint somewhere, even if I don't have the painting later to look at it, I'll never forget a place, whereas if I take a photo, it just won't stay with me the same way.  I guess that's what happens when you look at something intently for 7-8 hours straight.