When the news reached the Press Gallery in the Capitol that Sarah Palin was going to be starting a bus tour in Washington, D.C. on Sunday - maybe an indication that she was about to get into the Presidential hunt - you could feel a bit more excitement creeping into the 2012 race for the White House.

And when word came later that Mitt Romney will make his bid official next week, the contours of the Republican nomination battle seemed to be getting clearer and clearer by the minute.

"This Sunday, May 29th, Governor Palin and the SarahPAC team will begin a trip through our nation's rich historical sites, starting from Washington, DC and going up through New England," said a statement on her web site.

What's in New England? Well, there is this place called New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, Romney was eating pizza at Gino's East in Chicago, and sending some extra slices over to the Barack Obama campaign headquarters.

A few hours later, he made his intentions known on Twitter.

"Making it official next week at the Scamman Farm in New Hampshire," Romney tweeted.

Scamman Farm is a familiar venue for campaign events in the Granite State. It's located in Stratham, just up the road from Exeter over on the Seacoast of New Hampshire.

(I will admit that just looking at the map of New Hampshire gets my blood moving, thinking about the fun of covering a New Hampshire primary.)

For Romney, New Hampshire is home turf, as he was Governor of Massachusetts. Back in 2008, he won the primary easily there after all but ignoring the Iowa Caucuses.

Will he change tactics this time around? We'll see.

We'll also have to see what Palin is going to do. Supposedly she hasn't been setting up any campaign infrastructure in Iowa or New Hampshire.

Whether you like or hate Palin, she moves with a wide berth through Republican circles, and cannot be ignored if she gets into this race.

"Our nation is at a critical turning point," it said on Palin's web site.

We'll see what happens in coming days.