Howdy Renzb, and Welcome to CHordie!
Nice to see another Oregonian hanging out here. Only thought there were three of us, despite all the outstanding musicians and groups coming out of the Pacific Northwest. Man you should be able to find a bunch of good venues for jam sessions and open mic nights in the metro area I would think. You might drop an e-mail off to justasinger54 over in Seaside, he used to live in the Portland area and still has family in the PDX zone.... seems to me that he knew a few folks up that way and might be able to direct you to some contacts. Worth asking anyway.
I'm a bit South of you down here in Beaver Country about 85 miles down the pike, keep in touch and we might be able to gather enough bodies to put something together of a weekend (weather permitting). Mike is the other Oregon Picker hanging out around Coos Bay (well South and West of me here in the mid-valley) these larger States have some serious real estate between cities and Chordians.... makes it hard to get together but we can communicate.
Nice meeting ya, and Take Care;
Doug
"what is this quintessence of dust?" - Shakespeare