They have a casual interest in travel and are probably not great at camping and hiking. They probably live more then 1,000 miles from the Grand Canyon either on the East coast or in the Pacific Nort6hwest. Theiir employment keeps them close to home and they are laborers and not professionals (Las Vegas has been a convention host for decades, and so has the Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and Albuquerque area all of which are close enough for a weekend visit.)
the author has never seen the grand canyon
No, Grand Canyon is a proper noun; it is the name of a specific place, names are always proper nouns. A proper noun is always capitalized.
No, you capitalize the g in Grand and the c in Canyon but never capitalize the unless it is the beginning of a new sentence. Ex: The Grand Canyon is big and tall. Ex: I want to go see the Grand Canyon.
Look, there's another canyon we can explore! That canyon looks so grand!
I don't believe he wanted to find the grand canyon. He didn't expect to find it but he did anyway.
Yesterday, I was busy getting dressed to see the grand canyon.
The Grand Canyon is one of the biggest canyons. It has the Colorado River flowing through the canyon.
The Grand Canyon is an enormous chasm.
In Arizona
One geographic feature of the American Southwest is the Grand Canyon.
Last year, we visited the Grand Canyon.
Yes, there were (and are) mining interests who wanted entry.