Driving 285 never bothered me, (other than boredom between Roswell and Clines Corners) although there was some pucker factor between Santa Fe and Pojoaque when there was massive construction there for several years, years ago... And it was a pretty nice drive once you got north of Espanola.
To me, the old Highway 666 (now Highway 491) along the NM / AZ border was ‘an adventure’.... Especially after midnight.
The “pucker factor between Santa Fe and Pojoaque” is still there - a wild ride requiring gas pedal up the grade and good brakes down at the stoplights at Santa Fe and Pojoaque.
In 1972 my new wife and I drove our GTO to Clines Corners in a hell of a snowstorm. I obviously still remember it. You couldn’t hardly SEE the road. I never had any fear of snow afterwards (born and University in Colo., Boulder Grad., and my wife from NJ taught me to ski-we native Colorado and didn’t ski.)