And to elaborate on the state thing...

Each state in the US has some things that are governed differently for each state. Vehicle registration and even some traffic laws differ from state to state.

For instance, in some states, it is legal to make a right turn onto a street against a red light, as long as you stop and check for oncoming traffic (treat it like a stop sign), in some states it is not. It's rather frustrating when I'm behind a person with out-of-state plates and they are waiting for the red light to turn green before turning right.

We pay both state and federal taxes, and the taxes are different from state to state. Some states have a sales tax, others do not, for example. And property and income taxes and the tax laws vary from state to state.

Some states do not allow you to pump your own gas, there are no "self service" pumps in those states.

I haven't been to Utah in a long time, but when I was there last (nearly 20 years ago), restaurants were not allowed to serve Alcohol on Sunday. My stepfather insulted a waitress when she wouldn't serve him a martini when we stopped in Utah on a cross country trip.

So it does get kind of confusing.