So now Chelsea know the way to San Jose, or at least the way to the recently redeveloped Stanford Stadium located there, the venue for the first pre-season match in the USA.

 

It's a short drive from the airport with a Californian Highway Patrol escort of out-riders, past the offices of Google and Yahoo and a NASA base and there it is, on your left, as you arrive in the Palo Alto district of the Bay Area conurbation.

 

A few hours later and with the job successfully completed against Club América on Saturday evening, there was no hanging around, apart from a short detour by Didier Drogba.

 

He headed sideways out of the dressing rooms after Chelsea's win to greet a posse of Ivory Coast fans outside the stadium whose singing had even threatened at one point to drown out José Mourinho's press conference.

 

After that it was out of Silicon Valley and on up to Beverly Hills, via a flight that took a little over an hour; the players back in the hotel shortly after midnight.

 

Recovery from the 45 minutes action that the majority of the players had undergone was carefully planned so training on Sunday was restricted to a late afternoon session.

 

Therefore Chelsea's busy week continued with an in-store morning signing session at the adidas store in the Santa Monica area of LA.

 

About 300 lucky fans were awarded the opportunity to meet the whole squad after winning a competition organised by Chelsea's official kit sponsor.

 

Thousands of small footballs with a text number had been dropped from a blue Chelsea adidas bus that has been seen on the streets of the Californian city more than once during this visit. Those picking up the balls could text to enter the draw for invitations.

 

The crowd were clearly excited to see their heroes, none more so than Meyram, who had been waiting since 3am to see his heroes, despite being in possession of one of the tickets that guaranteed entry.

 

'I can't tell you how I feel. I got the signature of the whole team, unbelievable!' he said after he had been through the store. 'I stayed out all night because I couldn't sleep.

 

'I got my picture signed and will send it to my brother in Iran tomorrow morning. There's a lot of people waiting for this!'

 

He wasn't the only person to have gone to great lengths to be there. Vicky and Kelly had come all the way from England. 'It's my dad's birthday, and I'm getting him a nice present with all their autographs on it,' said Vicky. 'We planned our holiday to be able to come and see the Galaxy game.'

 

After the signing, Chelsea's long-serving on-pitch announcer Neil Barnett used his well-practised technique to wow the crowds outside, encouraging a chant of 'Chelsea, Chelsea', as they waited for an appearance from the squad on the balcony above the adidas emporium. Their wait was rewarded.

 

If Chelsea are making new friends in the States, there are still some old ones around. Popping into both the adidas store visit and later on at the training session was ex-star defender Frank Leboeuf, who now lives in LA and has bought a house in Hollywood.

 

'I miss Chelsea, it's my club,' he said. 'There are still lots of attraction in seeing them come here, and I'm coming to the Galaxy game.'

 

He still finds time to play football once a month, at a low-key level with none other than nowadays film actor and another former Chelsea player, Vinny Jones. By the end of the day, he had decided to attend Tuesday's match against the Samsung Bluewings as well.

 

At lunchtime, various prominent members of the playing and management staff donned tuexdos and hats for a Vanity Fair photo shoot before in stark contrast, afternoon training at UCLA brought together both ends of the football spectrum.

 

While in the usual training compound, José Mourinho was putting his squad through their paces, on adjacent pitches, Chelsea's Football in the Community coaches were working with young teams and separately, Right-To-Play were in action.

 

Chelsea's global charity partner enlisted the help of Salomon Kalou and Lassana Diarra to answer questions from disadvantaged kids before the organised play for the group began, followed by a chance to watch the Chelsea players train and ask for autographs.

 

The final question went to Kalou. 'What is the best way to become a professional football player?'

 

'Just follow the dream,' was the answer.

 

It had been a long and varied day.