Tuesday Travel Ticker: Heathrow’s finish line

Heathrow will open a Games Terminal at the end of the Olympics to process 37,000 bags and 10,000 athletes. The project, which cost $31 million, will only be open for 72-hours, as the participants depart . . . . The Commerce Department reports that growth in U.S. traffic to Europe rose 3.2% in April, less than half of the 6.5% rate in March . . . . Entrance to Yosemite National Park and Grand Canyon Natinal Park will be free on Saturday, in celebration of National Get Outdoors Day. Upcoming fee free dates in 2012 include National Public Lands Day (Sept. 29) and Veterans Day Weekend (Nov. 10 – 12) . . . . Discover Yosemite, a tour company that offers guided excursions into Yosemite National Park, has begun accepting online booking for the first time. Tours start at $78 per person for adults, or $39 for kids 16 and younger while; www.DiscoverYosemite.com. . . . KOA reports that camper check-ins for the May 26 to May 28 Memorial Day camping weekend were up about 7% from the same period in 2011 . . . . The annual Fillmore Jazz Festival, on Fillmore Street between Jackson and Eddy, blows into San Francisco July 7 and 8. The free festival will feature more than two dozen bands on three different stages, including a tribute to the late Etta James . . . . Santa Monica’s new Shore Hotel offers surf or paddleboard lessons as part of a new Girlfriends Getaway package starting July 4; www.shorehotel.com or (800) 599-1515 . . . . North Lake Tahoe is holding the 2^nd Annual Adventure Sports Week Tahoe, a 10-day event June 15-June 24. Competitive events include paddle boarding, trail running and mountain biking; (877) 949-3286, www.GoTahoeNorth.com . . . . Legoland has opened its swashbuckling adventure ride: Pirate Reef! Info: https://www.legoland.com/ . . . . Temecula Valley is launching a tourism-themed video contest this summer with a grand prize valued at $4,000. Entry period ends Aug 31, 2012. Info: click here . . . . Early bird tickets are on sale for the 7th annual Joshua Tree Roots Music Festival, Oct. 12-14. Info here: https://www.joshuatreemusicfestival.com/tickets.htm . . . . Reggae in the Desert, a daylong music festival in Las Vegas, takes place June 16. Tickets start at $25. Info: https://www.reggaeinthedesert.com/ . . . . Downtown Ventura will host a three-day festival celebrating the romantic Italian Renaissance in February, with masquerade balls, costume contests, art exhibits and full-contact jousting knights . . . . American Airlines has named Jeff Plant as its managing director at LAX. He will manage all local customer service activities there . . . . Lake Lure, N.C., where much of the film was shot, is holding a Dirty Dancing Festival on Aug. 17-18 . . . . Travel quote of the day: “Oh, come on, ladies. God wouldn’t have given you maracas if he didn’t want you to shake ‘em.” (Penny Johnson, as played by actress Cynthia Rhodes, in “Dirty Dancing”)