You're correct. NEXUS enrollment centers closest to PDX are in Blaine, Seattle, YVR and downtown Vancouver. You're going to have better luck finding interview slots at the ones at Winnipeg Airport and the North Dakota/Manitoba border. I remember looking and I couldn't get an interview anywhere in Canada or the US except in North Dakota or Winnipeg. Neither of which sounded appealing, considering it was January.

Anyway, even if someone can look at appointment times, by the time your applications are approved, what they see now won't exist. You pay your $50 application fee before you submit the application, not when you schedule your interview.

Maybe post in the NEXUS thread and see if anyone there has any suggestions.

As for the interview it's pretty straightforward. Who are you, why do you want NEXUS, have you been arrested/convicted/deported, ever been to a country that ends in stan etc. For me the US guy was pretty easy going, but asked more thorough questions. The CBSA guy and I talked about hockey for 20 minutes. I was there 30 minutes, but would have been out faster if not for a great discussion about whether Joe Thornton is a hall of famer (yes!!). Not sure how it works for kids though. It's probably the same, minus the hockey talk?.