starting out

Thanks to the members of this board I have my Sherline mill converted
to CNC. Using the messured marks on the mill the accuracy seems
great! Very cool to put in a number and watch the thing take off. I
won't be able to swing Vectorcad till after the holiday season. Is
there a way to break into learning the process in the meantime? I do
have autocad but very little knowledge of the program though I do
have a good tutorial book. I am still trying to grasp the concept.
Am I desinging the part in a cad program and then using that design
as a refrence establishing my tool route in the same program? Then I
take the toolpath part and convert it to g-code? Am I close...way
off?

As always, thanks
Matt