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Mississippi Road Trip: free iPhone apps for road trippers

My husband got up at 5 a.m. on Friday morning to stand in line for the new iPhone 3GS. Now that’s true love.

We decided to splurge on a phone before heading out on our summer road trip. We’re driving the length of the Mississippi River, from the headwaters to the mouth, on $150 a day. An iPhone might seem like an extravagant tool for a budget-themed trip but my 4-year-old cell phone died and I was eager to try out the many applications geared specifically to road trippers.

Here are a few that I look forward to trying out this summer. Right now I’m limiting myself to the free ones; you can download all of these at the iTunes store.

AAA Discounts: Identifies nearby businesses offering deals for AAA members.

Around Me: Need to find a bank? This application lists all the critical services around you–banks, bars, gas stations, coffee shops, hospitals, movie theaters, restaurants and so on.

Where: This app does it all, directing you to everything from the nearest Starbucks to the cheapest gas to the hottest restaurants.

Public Radio Tuner: Don’t want to miss This American Life with Ira Glass while on the road? This app helps you find Public Radio radio streams anywhere in the United States and allows you to listen directly from your phone.

Cheap Gas!: Pinpoints the cheapest gas prices in your surrounding area.

Road Trip Lite: Allows you to input your car profile and then track your car’s mileage and fuel economy.

Wi-Fi Finder: Locates free and paid hot spots anywhere and everywhere.

Urbanspoon: This app won’t help when you’re cruising through the countryside, but it dish up restaurants in bigger cities from San Francisco to New York.

Coin Toss: This comes in handy when you think the hotel is to the right and your partner thinks it’s to the left.

[Thanks: http://www.sfgate.com]

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