Can't get to Washington, D.C. this summer? Then plan an Oklahoma road trip, because the Oklahoma Humanities Council will sponsor the debut tour of the Smithsonian travel exhibit Journey Stories.

Six Oklahoma communities have been chosen to host this exhibit, which will be on view for roughly six weeks in each community, beginning this June through April 2, 2010. Host sites include Okmulgee, Newkirk, Sand Springs, Miami, Durant and Chandler.

Oklahoma is one of only five states to debut the exhibit. Journey Stories uses images, audio and artifacts to explore an ideal that is central to the American identity -- the freedom to move.

The exhibit includes individual journey stories and demonstrates the roles of travel and movement in building a diverse, American society. Themes of immigration, migration, innovation and freedom illustrate American mobility and how it has evolved as an assertion of individual freedom.

The exhibit tour kicks off Saturday in Okmulgee. Lt. Gov. Jari Askins will attend the opening festivities, which includes a proclamation from Gov. Brad Henry designating Saturday as "Journey Stories Day" in the State of Oklahoma. The exhibit will be at the Creek Council House Museum, 106 W. 6th St., through Aug. 7.

The next stop is Aug. 15-Sept. 25 at the Newkirk Public Library, 116 N. Maple. October 3-Nov. 13, the exhibit will be at the Sand Springs Cultural and Historical Museum, 9 E. Broadway; Nov. 21-Dec. 30 at the Miami Public Library, 200 N. Main; Jan. 9-Feb. 19, 2010, in Durant at the Three Valley Museum, 401 W. Main. The exhibit will end Feb. 27-April 11, 2010 in Chandler at the Museum of Pioneer History.

For more information on the tour, call the Oklahoma Humanities Council at 235-0280 or visit www.okhumanitiescouncil.org/museum-on-main-street, scroll to Current Exhibit--Journey Stories.