The US Mail System

I think I need a little lesson in how the US mail system works. Mike works in a different state so that meant we had to have a few documents for our dossier prepared and notarized in that state. This means that we have to send these documents to the Secretary of State in Idaho to be certified. I decided to get this done so I didn't have to worry about it. This is where the whole mail system mystifies me. I took the documents to my local post office where I found out I can't have a tracking number unless I send the package priority. I decided that I really wanted to be able to track that the documents had arrived so I handed over $4.55. I tracked the package and it took 3 days to get there. It is only 1 state away. But here is where it gets really bizarre. I hadn't enclosed a priority mailer so the Idaho Secretary of State office mailed our documents back to me through regular mail. It cost 85¢ and I received the documents in 2 days.