Loops, Expressways and Farm Roads, Oh My!

Prior to my move, a former Austinite aquaintance had emailed me all the nitty gritty details that I could expect from Austin - the good (housing costs), the bad (hot and humid weather) and the ugly (ridiculously large and nasty insects and reptiles). One thing that she failed to mention were the very differently engineered roads. On my second day in Austin, I decided to venture out on a planned shopping trip. Having declined the GPS with my rental car, I Mapquest-ed my trip.

Hint #1: Get the GPS!

I planned on visiting 3 stores, so I mapped out the entire route, from home to stores 1, 2, and 3, and back home again. Easy right? WRONG. What they don't mention until after you get lost is that many of the streets have 2 names and at different points the signs may or may not say the name that you need to see. For instance, on my shopping trip, the Mapquest directions told me to take the MoPac Expressway. At the point where I was supposed to take this road, the only sign I could see was for Loop 1 South.

Hint #2: MoPac = Loop 1

This is the case in a lot of the city. Some of this stuff comes with experience I guess, but after 1 1/2 hours of driving in circles, to not find a single store I was looking for, it was not a good experience. I called "home" and had someone direct me back since I had no idea where I was at this point.

After a few days of driving a.k.a. getting lost, I finally realized that which is my 3rd hint.

Hint #3: The main highways also have service roads.

What this means is that there are roads that run parallel to the highways that make accessing stores a lot easier. They are still called the same name as the actual highway, but usually run below and next to the actual highway. At many points along these service roads, you can jump back on the highway to get to your next destination quicker. This was very confusing to me at first, but now I realize that it is actually a very useful implemenation!

One last random hint. Actually, it's more of an explanation.

Hint (Explanation) #4: F.M. = Farm Road (who knew!?)

I'm sure I have much more to learn about the roads in Austin, but I haven't really had time to explore the city in depth. I'm still considering getting a GPS, if only to help me get home!