Ed Ronco

A visit to Bellingham likely means a stop at a museum or two. There's the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention, and the Bellingham Rail Museum, to name a couple.

And then there’s the Whatcom Museum, spread over two buildings, chronicling history, nature and art in the Northwest. From now until Jan. 6, the museum’s Lightcatcher building is hosting an exhibition focused on endangered species.

KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley continues his trip through Croatia.

Last week, he gave us his first impressions of the capital city Zagreb. This week, he's along the Dalmatian Coast, in the southern part of the country.

KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley has been to Croatia plenty of times, and he's shared those visits with us in his weekly "Going Places" travel segment.

But he's never been to the capital city, Zagreb. Until now.

Editor's note: This segment originally aired Oct. 13, 2016. 

When the weather breaks from summer heat to the gray, cool fall, I always think of a particular scene in the NBC television series "The West Wing," in which President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is recording his weekly radio address.

Earlier this year, elected leaders in Seattle did a rapid about-face on a tax that would have collected money from large employers like Amazon to fund programs to address homelessness.

At the time, poll numbers showed a majority of voters opposed the idea. While council members and Mayor Jenny Durkan were changing their positions, they were also exchanging text messages -- with each other, and with power brokers in the city. 

People who love nature love to be in the wilderness. The problem is if too many nature-lovers visit one location, it's no longer wild. This conundrum is more likely to happen in the areas around a major population center like Seattle. 

There's one coal-fired power plant left in Washington state. But it won't be burning coal for much longer: It's scheduled to shut down or to switch to natural gas by 2025.

Editor’s note: This story was part of our KNKX Connects broadcast from Lewis County on Aug. 30, 2018. We explored the issues, events and personalities that shaped – and in some cases are still shaping – the cities of Centralia and Chehalis.

The land in west Lewis County is more rolling hillside than steep climb. It’s farmland in a lot of places, forest in others. Centralia and Chehalis sit at the confluence of the Chehalis and Skookumchuck rivers.

Editor’s note: This story was part of our KNKX Connects broadcast from Lewis County on Aug. 30, 2018. We explored the issues, events and personalities that shaped – and in some cases are still shaping – the cities of Centralia and Chehalis.

On average, some 50 to 60 trains a day pass through Centralia and Chehalis. They are largely freight trains, with Amtrak also running routes through this corridor.

But every so often, if you know the right place to look, you might find a century-old steam train chugging along the tracks.

The Olympic Discovery Trail is known as "pathway to the Pacific." It stretches across the North Olympic Peninsula, from Port Townsend to La Push. About 75 miles of the trail are made up of paved pathways, separate from roads. Another 60 miles of the trail exists as gravel path or along the shoulders of highways.

On Aug. 30, 2018, KNKX visited the twin cities of Centralia and Chehalis, in Lewis County, as part of our KNKX Connects project – a yearlong exploration of western Washington. You can hear our reporting from those places in the audio above. And below, we’ve linked to several of the individual stories.

It's not yet autumn, but it is what's known as the "shoulder season": that span of time when there are fewer people taking vacations, but when much of the visitor infrastructure is still running.

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, and smack in the middle of the country’s Catalonia region. This week on Going Places, we hear from Cesar Escuin, a tour guide who lives there. He spoke with KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley about the region: from its famous artists to the soaring Sagrada Familia, or Holy Family church.

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Angela Meade thought, when she was growing up in Centralia, that she might be a doctor.

In Chehalis, just outside of the front door of the Lewis County Historical Museum, you’ll find a giant tree stump tucked under a gazebo, right next to a very busy set of railroad tracks.

This is a replica of the “McKinley Stump,” so named because President William McKinley almost gave a speech from atop it in 1901, during a tour of the Pacific Northwest. Almost.

Searching for a deal when you travel can be challenging. Many people look to low-cost airlines. They offer lower ticket prices and fewer frills than the big carriers.

But KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley says he recently had two experiences that left him thinking twice about flying on the cheap.

Editor's Note: This episode of "Going Places" originally aired on April 28, 2016.

KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley is a big fan of travel experiences that allow for some unexpected discovery. But it's still good to be informed about your destination before you arrive, he says.

When you think of jazz festivals in Europe, you probably think about Montreux, in Switzerland.

This week on "Going Places," KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley tells us about a festival in the Netherlands that you probably don't know. It's the Amersfoort Jazz Festival, which seeks to highlight newer talent from around the world, in a small Dutch town that dates back centuries.

Two orca stories have been prominent in news in recent days: An endangered orca is still clinging to her dead calf more than two weeks after it died. And scientists are considering intervening to help a different young orca, known as J-50, which they fear is sick and near death. 

We're off to London on this week's Going Places. But KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley is not our guide. Instead, he's handing things over this week to his 14-year-old daughter, Aiyana.

She offers her take on what's fun to see and do in London, from the British Museum to the Harry Potter tour.

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Editor's note: This segment originally aired on June 4, 2015.

If you’ve ever traveled abroad – especially with a group – you’ve probably met up with a local tour guide at your destination.

KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley has been leading tours around the world for nearly 30 years. He says local guides are key experts that bring a lot of knowledge to a trip. But there are other layers of guiding that happen behind the scenes. Here are three things you might not know:

In a lot of countries, it’s a lucrative job.

The Montreux Jazz Festival just wrapped up in Switzerland. The diverse lineup included Gregory Porter, Chick Corea, along with Iggy Pop, Jack White, and others.

But music is everywhere at Montreux during the festival – in the performance venues, along the streets, and on the shores of Lake Geneva.

KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley leads group travel all over the world. It’s not often he finds himself in a country on the day its team wins the World Cup. 

KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley has spent a lot of time in France leading group travel.

He’s driven the roads.

He’s ridden the rails.

But this last trip was aboard a riverboat, cruising down the Seine.

Editor’s note: This segment originally aired July 2, 2015.

You’re looking to get away for a weekend, but the Fourth of July has come and gone, and summer in general kind of crept up on you. KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley says have no fear: There are still plenty of options.

Community groups and churches are working to find temporary funding for an overnight homeless shelter in Port Angeles after money ran out last week.

Most of us know when we travel to safeguard our personal possessions. You pay attention to where your passport is kept. You might put your money in a discreet pocket or one of those around-the-neck pouches under your shirt.

But experts say it's just as important to safeguard your digital life while traveling.

Many people in Seattle -- no matter their political ideology -- are frustrated with their elected leaders, who are trying to keep the business sector happy and confront a growing homelessness crisis.

On our weekly travel segment “Going Places,” we often talk about ways to slow down while you travel. One way is by seeing your destination from a bicycle, instead of a car or bus.

Lynn DiBenedetto, of Bainbridge Island, has led bike trips domestically and overseas. She spoke with KNKX travel expert Matthew Brumley about some of her favorite spots, near and far.