When Spike Manton was 7, his family embarked on a road trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

He laughingly recalls cursing, frustration, rain spilling into the camper and propane-soaked hamburgers.

“I remember almost nothing about the hall of fame,” he says. “Where you were going rarely mattered — the destination becomes insignificant.”

What is important to Manton and his college friend Tim Clue is what happens in the cramped car between home and the random point chosen on the map.

With this in mind, the two co-wrote the comedic play “Leaving Iowa,” which they also produced and directed.

The story centers around a man who brings his father’s ashes back to Iowa, but finds himself unable to scatter them at his father’s childhood home.

As he searches for an appropriate place to leave them, he remembers the Midwestern road trips of his childhood. The audience is invited to experience the frustration and humor of these memories through various flashbacks acted out on stage.

“It’s such a crockpot of all the memories of Tim and I, what we’ve read and of friends,” Manton says.

“I recalled my own family road trips with fondness, humor and pain,” Clue says. “That’s the ultimate alchemy to a sentimental comedy.”

Clue believes the specific, unique storyline in the play creates a scenario that the audience can easily relate to.

“If you’ve ever been in the back seat of a car and wanted to kick your sister out, you can relate,” he says.

Manton says the American family vacation has changed in modern times because of more air travel and more comforts. He says one thing remains from the family vacations of yore: The tensions, boredom and arguing are still felt by families today.

Clue agrees, saying although Etch-a-Sketches and thumb wrestling have been exchanged for DVD players and Gameboys, families still experience the same underlying frustrations.

The two men say this has become obvious to them through listening to audiences reminiscing in the lobby after seeing their show.

“When you look back to your childhood, there seems to be one of those trips that pops off the page more than the others,” Clue says.

Both men believe the play has a good story that can be appreciated by people of all ages and from different walks of life. They say the play provides a funny, non-embarrassing setting for college students to laugh and reminisce with friends, parents or a first date. And they hope students give it a chance.

“You’ve got five more months to drink,” Clue says.