Hi John,
If I were you, I would go to google and write "portland permaculture" and you could get in touch with the myriad of groups that exist there. As you're not so far away, I'm sure someone would be interested in coming out to your place. They would also know of courses that could interest you.
Just a sampling of what i found.
http://www.thedirt.org/ppg
http://www.meetup.com/Portland-Permaculture-Meetup/
http://www.meetup.com/portlandpermaculture/
William