Thanks a lot, guys. You have been really helpful. However i can't get to the setup very frecuently after we install it, but would need to access it wirelessly. We only need the temperature to the nearest 0.1 degree at the most and would like to log perhaps every 5 minutes.
What additional hardware would we need to get the info from the SD card to some sort of smart phone? It looks like we need something like the Xbee, but it also needs its own board = $35 total for the two.
We ran into this item / maybe it might be able to replace the Xbee? http://www.linksprite.com/product/showproduct.php?lang=en&id=116
This thing is evidently only $15.00 (although i can't find the link anymore).
Thanks again for your great suggestions and have a wonderful evening! 