Two things that North Dakotans have all certainly heard ad nauseum: John Kerry served in Vietnam and Lewis and Clark stopped in North Dakota on their Voyage of Discovery. These three steel icons have become the face of the Lewis and Clark bandwagon for the 2004-2006 commemoration of that voyage.

The response I’ve heard over the chosen icons is that they’re a little goofy, but they really aren’t that bad. They’re somewhat of a departure from the traditional Lewis and Clark icon that you see on road signs marking their trail through the upper Midwest, though, so they’re going to take some getting used to.

One little tidbit about that whole ’04 and ’06 thing. Has it ever occurred to you that Highway 1804 runs along the Bismarck side of the Missouri River, and 1806 along the Mandan side? A little tribute to the Voyage of Discovery there for you, in case you missed it.