Hmmm! cwtnospam is right to reorganise your network connection list - it should allow you to connect more quickly - but I'm not sure that should solve the whole problem. It shouldn't take an hour for your Mac to work your way down that list. The fact you still got an error is a little worrying.

Post back if you still get issues. Keep a eye on your signal strength (select 'Show Airport status in menu bar' in the Airport settings panel to give yourself a continuous update)

The other thing to look at (if you get still get issues) is your system.log, which you can view with the Console.app (/Applications/Utilities/) Click the 'Logs' icon and select system.log. Any lines you see begining something like

would be good to know about.

I was just thinking that you might have something in your startup items that's trying to use a port that is closed or doesn't have a physical connection. Check in the Accounts Preference pane.

I just restarted the computer to make sure that everything was working ok and as soon as it started I got 2 error messages about the connection like I was getting before. I clicked on my browser and was able to connect without any problems though. I will now check the system.log

My airport connection strength is always at 3 or 4 bars (no change). I just looked at the console logs and unfortunately there is a very long list of things that I don't understand. Should I be looking for anything specific? or should I just copy and paste the whole thing here?

When in doubt, post it all. Somebody will figure it out.
;)

BTW the very last entry in the log is;

Apr 30 17:40:09 localhost pppd[275]: Failed to open /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Modem: Device busy

that seemed odd to me, or is it because I turned bluetooth off in the network preferences?

Reboot your machine, and when everything is hunky-dory, open Console.app Select system.log. Scroll up from the bottom, looking for a line that looks like:

Copy/paste everything from then onwards down into TextEdit. The 'X's conceal my computer's real name, and the 'x's my login name. I recommend you do the same. Attach the log to a post here rather than paste it.

EDIT I don't use BT so can't answer your last question.

Probably.
Do you have a bluetooth modem, keyboard, mouse, or cell phone that you are using?

If you still have abusively long boot-times, try this:

Upon reboot, right after the Mac did it's "boing" sound, maintain both the command (Apple) and the s key until you see white-on black text.

Make a mental note of the lines where the stalling occurs, that will be another clue to the log-interpretation suggested by fellow hinters.