Day 6: Alice Springs to Tennant Creek Alice Springs was founded
in 1870 as a repeater station for the Overland Telegraph Line
that linked Australia with the rest of the world. When Mum and
Dad lived here 55 years ago-Dad was a mechanic for the Northern
Territory's first tour operator, while Mum worked at the
hospital-fresh milk and vegetables arrived once a week on the
train from Adelaide.  Today, Alice Springs is a bustling
community with all the modern conveniences you'd expect. And
that's not necessarily a good thing: We see our first McDonalds,
and our first traffic lights, in five days of traveling.  Today
should be a straight 315-mile haul straight up the Stuart
Highway to Tennant Creek, but to make things interesting, we're
going to head west along Namatjira Drive, going as far out as
the edge of the Tanami desert before looping north and then east
to rejoin the Stuart Highway just 10 miles north of Alice. It's
a 230-mile detour, but worth it for the spectacular views of the
McDonnell Ranges and a dist