MySensors supports Lora (RFM95), so you could have the devices talk to a controller at home.
As a controller I recommend the Mozilla WebThings Gateway :-) Less manual tinkering with config files.
And yes, communicating with each other without a parent gateway is also perfectly possible.
How about using sensors that are more robust than ultrasonic? There are some sensors used non-contact detection of water/gas levels, for example.
if you want some GSM code, give me a shout.