You pretty much missed the Milky Way - well at least it's core (the brightest part). In that it's now November, the core has slid down under the horizon, and each passing night more and more of the edge is sliding under the horizon too. In February, the core will start rising above the horizon. Although you can still see part of the outer edge of the Milky Way's arms (not the shot you were hoping to capture).

You will still be able to get some of the outer edge, which will be about due west (250 to 270 degrees) right about an hour after sunset (gotta wait for astro twilight for the sun to be about 12 degrees below the horizon for the sky to be really dark). See Stellarium (free down load) which will show you where the milky way is currently located.

For manual focusing, you need to be in live view, zoom into a star, and then manual focus so that it's as pin point as possible. Make sure the camera body is in manual focus, and then tape down the lens' focus ring with some gaffers tape.