Hehe, well that is often true. My step-dad was actually a physics professor, and although he wasn't always entirely lucid, he definitely tried to be, and generally went to extreme lengths to explain things as well as he good in layman's terms (something a simpleton such as myself can really appreciate). Unfortunately, I was usually more interested in the qualitive (rather than the quantitive) aspect of things, and so only attained a much-less-than-expert level of understanding of the subject. Still, he did a great job of inspiring a deep passion for the field, which I will always have, I believe. Yes, good teachers are priceless, and rare.
Model rockets sound like a lot of fun, though I've never tried it, personally. I once (and quite briefly) had a remote control plane (Christmas of '81, maybe) - it was a huge wood and metal behemoth that ran on gasoline - but unfortunately, it's first flight was to be it's last. It crashed and exploded in a horrendous fireball! After that, I think I lost faith in myself as a pilot of flying machines.
