There were still chuckles of laughter as the squad started their journey to Denver Airport for the second-leg of the tour to Santa Barbara, home of Katy Perry and Michael Jackson’s Neverland Valley Ranch.
The banter was flying as the singers at the club’s induction ceremony bore the brunt before boarding the two-hour internal flight.
As is tradition at Swansea, all new players and staff members must sing a song after dinner in front of the rest of the squad.
First up on the chair was Jonathan de Guzman, with the Canadian-born Dutch Under-23 international offering Que Sera Sera, which went down well for an opener.
Midfielder Michu was next up on the wobbly chair with a slightly wild version of Stand by Me, before fitness coach Oscar Garcia added some Spanish flair with La Bamba.
Ben Davies chipped in with Valerie before Gwion Edwards took centre stage with a number that to this day nobody knows what it was.
As expected, media men Jonathan Wilsher and Danny McGowan were quality, before it was Chico Time – and not the one starring alongside Kevin Johns in panto at Swansea’s Grand Theatre this Christmas.
Now the giant Spaniard has been getting a bit of a reputation since joining up with the squad from Genoa, via Mallorca.
Tough, strong and a little loco, his performance against Colorado Rapids had them quivering in the stands as his committed approach, while also extremely competent and comfortable with the ball at his feet, rattled the opposition strike-force.
And with his long hair tucked up behind his head in a high pony-tail, his team-mates reckon he’s the “Last of the Samurai Warriors”.
So in typical Chico style, up he gets on the chair for his song. But while the rest of the singers used a spoon as the makeshift microphone, Chico gets up with a knife!
After shouts of “look out the crazy man’s got a knife”, away he goes with a version of We Are The Champions that drifted between Spanish and English.
He still got the biggest round of applause though, especially when Mark Gower reminded everyone: “We’d better clap, he’s got a knife”.
One thing is guaranteed though, the Jack Army are going to love watching Chico in action this season.
The tour party eventually arrived at their beautiful resort near Ventura late into the night.
Specialising in golf and spa services, the scenery and surroundings were spectacular as the squad arose early for their first training session at the nearby Oxnard College; although the sight of so many golf buggies at
Alan Tate’s disposal around the resort had the medical team panicking.
At least the training conditions were a bit easier here in Ojai after the drop in altitude and heat compared to Denver.
As usual, kitman Michael Eames kept the staff entertained. Having revealed some classic quotes from Michael in the previous diary entry, he came up trumps again, although he’s now not talking to the club’s official website and looking to Twitter for support.
Discussing the last leg of the tour to San Francisco and a proposed trip to Alcatraz, the famous federal prison also known as ‘The Rock’, Michael looked concerned.
“Won’t the prisoners mind us being there?’’ he questioned.
Obviously nobody had told him that the prison that once housed the likes of Robert ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’ Stroud, Al Capone, and George "Machine Gun" Kelly was shut down as a federal penitentiary in 1963!
The general discussion turned to leaving Michael on the island after the trip, but life would certainly be boring without him, especially after he promoted himself to a new title after a glass of wine or two – but more about that in the next episode!
Having left him behind to sort out the kit for the forthcoming game against Ventura Fusion, the squad travelled to Oxnard Stadium, the venue for Saturday’s friendly, for training.
The session was observed by members of the Southern California Soccer Coaches Association, Cal South, who have long been regarded as the premier youth soccer organisation in the United States.
After training, Michael Laudrup kicked things off with an insightful Q&A session, followed by young professional Ben Davies; Head of Sports Science Ryland Morgans; goalkeeping coach Adrian Tucker and finally Chairman Huw Jenkins.
One notable absentee from training though was Nathan Dyer. The winger had come down with a touch of tonsillitis and was resigned to his room with a sign marked “unclean” pinned to the door.
Don’t miss the next installment of the next tour diaries.